Widowmaker
by strawberries
Summary: SasuSaku Sakura, a terrible matchmaker, has gotten herself into a pickle. She calls for a peacemaker, but instead gets the coolheaded, handsome assassin for hire, Sasuke. He isn't happy about it, but his past starts to unravel, and they're both intrigued.
1. Chapter 1

Widowmaker

Chapter One

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A/N: Hello, all! I have been wanting to write this idea for a long time. I hope you will all enjoy it. It is loosely based on Johanna Lindsey's book "Angel."

Disclaimer: I do not own the manga/anime Naruto, nor Johanna Lindsey's book "Angel."

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Sakura really didn't see the problem. If only the Hyuuga family could see that their daughter loved the boy of Nine Tails, there wouldn't be a problem. That damn family had too much pride! Besides, all Sakura had done was give Naruto and Hinata a little push in the direction of love.

But, she mused, the prestigious Hyuuga family had viewed it as if the pair was being forced together and that they didn't truly love each other, _especially _on Hinata's part. Sakura knew otherwise though. The two had fancied each other for nearly seven years now. And now at the ripe age of nineteen, they had needs and wants and they truly wanted to be together. Why couldn't the Hyuuga family see that?

If they did, then maybe she could stay in the Hidden Leaf village.

The rosy-haired young woman paced around the modest bedroom, glancing back at her letter every few seconds. Did she cover herself well enough? She sighed and walked back over to the letter, leaning down slightly to re-read it.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_I hope you guys are doing well on your vacation. Everything's great here! I'm sending you this letter to let you know of a little predicament I'm in. You know the Hyuuga clan? I'm sure you recognize the name. I, regrettably, came to a disgreement with them recently. Don't worry; I'm patching things up even now! However, they're requested that you return immediately to keep watch over me. I really don't think it's necessary though. But, write me back soon! I can't wait to hear from you!_

_Love, Sakura_

The nineteen-year-old nodded to herself. That sounded good. It was casual and to-the-point. Most importantly, she had left out the part about the Hyuugas threatening to 'get rid' of her if she did not fix the mistake between Hinata and Naruto.

Sakura tapped the pen on her chin thoughtfully. She was sure she patch things up with the Hyuugas anyway. They would not speak directly with her, but she had already solved that particular dilemma. She had written to a well-known peacemaker from the Hidden Cloud village, requesting his help with her little problem.

"I guess I shouldn't have set them up together," the girl mumbled to herself in a depressed tone.

She folded up the letter and tucked it into an envelope. She tied her forehead protector around her head and walked out the door, envelope in hand. Normally, she would skip down the steps and bound out ino the fresh air and sun, ready to start a new day. This day, however, she could only drag her feet down the stairs and glare up at the sun that beat down on her back, even through all of the trees.

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto yelled, nearly blasting her eardrums right out of her head, as usual.

She smiled still as he jogged up next to her. His attitude was contagious. "Good morning, Naruto."

"I was just on my way to get some ramen! Want to come?" he offered excitedly.

Sakura laughed. "It's like eight in the morning, dimwit." She shook her head, giving him a playful smile.

Naruto shrugged. "Your loss! Bye!" With a wave, he disappeared down the street. Sakura couldn't help but smile now as she made her way through town with the letter. Her old teammate was still just the same as ever. She loved him dearly; he was her brother if not blood-related.

She sighed as she watched him run into the ramen shop. He knew that he was not allowed to see Hinata at her home, but Sakura didn't think Naruto realized exactly how much the Hyuugas disapproved of him—if his happy exterior was any indication, at least.

Sakura had thought to tell her childhood teacher about her problem. That had only been a brief thought though. Kakashi was great with fighting and strategy, but he was clueless about these sorts of things. He'd bid her good luck and continue reading his Come Come Paradise magazine. Or, he'd make things much worse.

No, Sakura definitely needed a professional. She needed someone who would dig her out of this mess, and at a fair price. Most importantly, she needed someone who would dig her out of it before her parents returned.

She needed the best peacemaker there was.

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Quite a ways away, in the middle of a small clearing, two men stood ten feet apart from each other. One was glaring the other one down, stretching his fingers at his sides and working his chakra up and down. He was young, only looking to be sixteen or so, but was overly cocky. He had been trying to work up a name for himself around the villages, as a missing nin, and when he had heard about the other man making a stop at the Hidden Cloud village, he couldn't resist the urge.

The other man was, after all, a legend. He was Sasuke of the prestigious, yet dead, Uchiha clan. He knew as much, but not much more, for most of his memory had been lost when he was a boy. No one else really knew that much about him either.

Although he apparently originated from the Hidden Leaf village, he did not live in any one particular place. He was a hired assassin for any village which required his services. And, he was feared immensly. No one really knew that much about him though (discounting his memory problem); he was extremely anti-social. All that was said about him was mostly rumors and it was questionable about which rumors were actually true. One rumor which floated around was that his older brother had killed the entire Uchiha clan except poor Sasuke. This rumor could be neither denied nor acredited since the sole survivor didn't remember what happened. He had never returned to Hidden Leaf village for very long either to try and uncover his past.

Sasuke Uchiha seemed far more calm than the younger man standing ten feet away from him. He stood completely still, staring at the ground. He was nineteen or twenty—he didn't remember. He was on his way to his original village of the Hidden Leaf to repay a debt when this young fool had shown up, demanding a showdown of power.

He really did not want to kill the young boy, but he had been given no choice in the matter. Sasuke had tried to ignore the boy's taunts, but when the Uchiha man had been nearly struck in the back by a rather monotone jutsu, he had been forced to accept the challenge.

"Are we going to do this or not?" the sixteen-year-old demanded impatiently.

Sasuke looked up then, his coal black eyes piercing into the boy harshly. The boy gasped in excitement when those same onyx orbs shifted to a red as crimson as blood. He had been waiting for a break like this for a long time.

"Fine," Sasuke replied calmly. He reached into his pocket slowly and before the boy could even blink, he had embedded several kunai into the boy's neck.

Sasuke Uchiha turned away from the sight of the boy falling over onto his face, not liking how the day had turned out at all. He didn't like how people seeked him out now. Just like how the old man had seeked him out, asking him for the favor which would repay Sasuke's debt. Of course, he simply could not refuse, given how the man had taken care of him after he had lost his memory until he was strong enough to leave on his own.

"Bah,"he grumbled, thumbing his palm as he sought his way towards the entrance/exit of the village. _Welp, here I go. Off to repay that stupid debt._

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Sasuke stared at the old bridge leading into the Hidden Leaf village. He raised a brow thoughtfully. Nope, nothing. Not any visions triggering his lost memory. With a shrug, he trudged across the bridge and through the hundreds of trees.

People walked around the streets, chatting happily and shopping, among other things. Each wore their pride-and-joy Hidden Leaf forehead protectors, oblivious to everything around them. Sasuke didn't have a forehead protector. He had lost it when his memory had been lost.

He glanced down at the piece of paper in his hand. He had no clue where the address was, and he was not familiar with the streets.

"Excuse me," he called out as a man passed him. The blond turned around quizically. Sasuke did a double-take at the strange whisker markings on the man's face. "Can you tell me where Shou street is?"

The man turned around and pointed off in a direction. "That way; take a left at the ramen stand; then, take a right at the other ramen stand!" With that, he jogged off. Sasuke snorted in disdain as the man disappeared around a corner.

"How helpful," he muttered to himself. He shook his head and began walking in the direction the man pointed, hands shoved in the pockets of his black, tight shorts. Sure enough, after a few minutes of walking, he spotted a ramen stand off to the side, and he took a right at the cross street it was on the corner of.

He continued on his way down the streets until he came up to the address he was seeking. He glanced at the paper one more time and shoved it back in his pocket. He looked up at the house and sighed, resigned. _Might as well get it over with._

He knocked on the door, and waited impatiently for someone to answer.

Sakura padded over to the door and swung it open. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the man standing outside on the steps. He reminded her of something dark and forbidden with his ebony black hair and eyes, along with his equally dark shirt and shorts. His pale skin contrasted highly with the rest of him. He was brushing a stray strand of hair out of his face, looking quite irritable.

"May I... help you?" Sakura stuttered quietly.

The man took a piece of paper out of his pocket and read it for a second. "Are you Sakura Haruno?"

Sakura squealed inwardly. _He's looking for me! He's so cute!_

"Well?"

The rosy-haired woman shook herself out of her thoughts at his impatient prompt. She nodded. "Yes, I am. And you are?"

"I'm Sasuke. I'm here about a problem," he told her, glancing around disinterestedly.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "You're the peacemaker! Please, come in!" She tugged him inside the house, oblivious to her protests. She ushered him into the sitting room and made him comfortable while she put on a pot of tea.

Re-entering the room with the tea in hand, she saw him staring around the room, seemingly pre-occupied with his thoughts. She cleared her throat gently. When he looked up at her, she sat down next to him with a big smile on her soft features.

"Thank you so much for coming! I really need your help with the Hyuugas. They just don't like Naruto because he isn't from a good bloodline. Naruto and Hinata really love each other though!" she said animatedly.

"I see. And Hinata is a Hyuuga, I suppose?" Sasuke ventured.

Sakura nodded. "Yes, she is. She's a shy girl, so she won't stand up to her family. I was only trying to help her and Naruto along, but the Hyuugas think I forced them together. Now, they are threatening to 'deal' with me if I don't fix what I 'screwed up.'"

Sasuke looked thoughtful. "So, who do I kill?"

Sakura choked on her tea and nearly dropped the cup. "I... I beg your pardon?"

"Who do I kill?" he repeated patiently.

"Kill!" she exclaimed in shock. She set down the teacup onto the table in front of the couch. "You don't kill anyone! You're a _peace_maker!"

Sasuke shook his head, ever the calm one in her outburst. "No, I'm a professional assassin. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Assassin!" She nearly choked again. "I asked for a peacemaker! You can't help me! Oh, my goodness." Sakura stood up and started pacing the room frantically.

"You are really annoying."

She glared down at him as he sat calmly on the couch, sipping his tea. Suddenly, he didn't seem so attractive. She stamped her foot.

"Why did you come here if you aren't a peacemaker!"

Sasuke shrugged. "I am repaying a debt. I was told to come here and help you."

Sakura folded her arms across her chest. "Well, you'll just have to leave."

Sasuke stood up then, looming over her with a dangerous glint in his eye. "I am _not _leaving until I repay my debt!"

Sakura gulped. "W-Well, if you promise not to kill anyone, maybe you can help me."

The Uchiha man nodded, satisfied. "Fine, I won't kill anyone, _unless _they provoke me."

Sakura sighed in relief and sat back down on the couch. After a sip of her tea, she responded, "Deal."

Before another word could be said between them, a loud calling could be heard from the hall before a familiar blond head popped in the doorway.

"Sakuraaaa!"

The woman half-turned and glanced over at the door. "Naruto?"

Sasuke followed her gaze to see it was the weird man who had given him 'directions' not too long ago. The blond man, Naruto, seemed to recognize him, as well.

"Hello, again!" he greeted loudly, waving. Sasuke lifted a delicate brow, but did not respond. Naruto frowned. "Okay then. Anyway," he turned to Sakura, "I brought you some ramen, Sakura. For later!" He grinned cheekily and made his way through the sitting room and over to the kitchen. "I know you've been busy with the kiddos at the academy, and with your parents gone, I'm sure you don't have time to cook!"

"That's very thoughtful of you, Naruto," Sakura said sincerely, though she wondered why he went through all of the trouble. "Aren't you supposed to be training with Lee though?"

Naruto nodded as he closed the refrigerator door. "On my over there now! I'll talk to you later!" He planted a kiss on the top of her head before swiftly making his way out of the sitting room, and out of the house completely.

"I couldn't help hearing he is named Naruto."

The deep voice at her side drew Sakura's attention back to her assassin-turned-peacemaker. He was staring intently at her, and she drew back slightly, a blush threatening to overcome her cheeks.

"Yes, that is Naruto, the man who loves Hinata."

He snorted. "I can see why the girl's parents hate him."

Sakura gasped in outrage. "He is very sweet, thoughtful, and protective! You just don't know him!"

Sasuke shrugged. "Fine, whatever. Just show me my room because I'm tired."

"You're staying _here?" _she asked, dumbfounded.

He gave her a 'duh' look. "Well, yeah."

Sakura frowned. He was very good-looking, but his attitude certainly was not the best. She stood primly and led him out of the sitting room. She didn't know if he would do her any good with her little problem, and she was afraid to find out, but she sure wasn't going to force him to leave. He did not seem the type to listen to what others had to say.

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I hope this first chapter has been even the slightest bit interesting. Please review and tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Widowmaker

Chapter Two

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A/N: Thanks for the encouraging reviews in the first chapter. I'm glad you like this story so far. smile

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"_You let them die!"_

Sasuke sat up with a gasp and looked wildly around the small bedroom he was in. After remembering where he was, he laid back against the pillow again. He let out a long breath. _What the hell was that? _He pictured the young boy—himself—in his dream, or rather nightmare. He let them die? _Who _did he let die!

With a silent curse, he slid out of the bed and walked over to the small desk where he had set his shirt the night before. Of course, his kunai holder was still strapped to his leg, and his katana was underneath his pillow. Ever since he had wandered from village to village after he had lost his memory, he had always kept his weapons with him.

Donning the rest of his clothing, he made his way out of the room and towards the kitchen where his hostess was already preparing breakfast. She glanced back at him when he entered, but did not say anything.

The ebony-haired, pretty-boy sat at the oakwood kitchen table with his arms crossed over his chest while he glared broodingly at the young woman at the stove. She was humming confidently, but whispered an 'oops!' every now and then; this gave Sasuke reason to believe she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

"I hope you like ham and cheese omelet!" Sakura said over her shoulder.

Sasuke glanced away briefly. "Hn."

A few minutes later, Sakura brought two plates to the table, her emerald eyes flashing proudly as she set them down. Sasuke stared at his omelet for a moment.

"Are you sure the pig's dead?" he asked, looking up at Sakura with a raised brow.

She giggled and waved a hand at him, obviously not offended by his question. "Of course! Eat up!"

After seeing her shovel the food into her mouth, Sasuke took a tender bite of his breakfast. Soon after, he set the fork back down on the plate and swallowed painfully. He had not been brought up by the "old man" to insult a meal when it was given to him for free, but he felt his eyes start to water.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, concerned.

Sasuke nodded weakly.

"Anyway, I was thinking last night," she continued as Sasuke debated whether to make a run for the bathroom. "I think it's a good idea for you to stay after all! I really need some help with the Hyuugas, and if you're who the peacemaker sent, then he must think you're really good with people!"

Sasuke snorted out his milk at this and then coughed delicately. "Good with... people?" he asked incredulously. He thought to himself, _Good at kicking their asses, maybe, but not good at smoothing over their problems. _He decided not to voice that thought.

Sakura gave him a look of frustration. "Well, you're at least going to try, aren't you?"

Sasuke sighed and leaned back in his chair. "What do you want me to do?"

Sakura smiled reassuringly. "All you'll have to do is talk to the Hyuugas and tell them how happy Naruto and Hinata are. And, tell them that I shouldn't have to leave the Hidden Leaf village! It'll be a piece of cake!"

With doubt clearly written on his face, Sasuke sneered, "If it's a piece of cake, why do you even need me?"

The rosy-haired woman looked irritated then. "I don't! I told you to leave yesterday!"

Sasuke bolted up in his seat, slamming his hands down on the table. "And I told you I'm not leaving!"

Sakura smiled again; he would do what she wanted him to do merely because he was desperate to repay his 'debt.' She found his attitude to be rather annoying, but she wouldn't mind him sticking around a little longer. He certainly was candy for the eyes. Sakura couldn't wait to show him off to Ino-pig!

Sakura and her childhood friend, Ino, were still close friends, but often competed with each other over boys. Their main trophy as children had been Rock Lee, a man who was a year older than both of them. He, however, only fancied Sakura, a fact which irritated Ino to no end. Truthfully, Sakura wasn't _that _interested in Lee, though she did appreciate his polite and loving notions toward her.

"Well?"

Sasuke's impatient prompt drew Sakura out of her thoughts. She stared at him blankly, and he gritted his teeth together.

"Do you know of a family called Uchiha?" he repeated for the third time. Inwardly, he wanted to tell her what an idiot she was, but refrained from doing so. His host had proven herself to be quite a ditz over this morning and the previous night. He supposed she was decent looking though. He had seen much better, but he had also seen much worse. He just wanted to get his job done and get the hell out of there. If he found out about his past in the process, he wouldn't object, but he certainly was not going to stick around afterwards, prodding through the village in search of his memories.

"Hmm," Sakura murmured thoughtfully. "The name sounds slightly familiar, but I don't know. Do you know them? Are they people you could stay with?"

She looked too hopeful in Sasuke's opinion, a fact which irritated him further. He didn't see why she was so edgy about him staying in her house. It wasn't like he was going to murder her in her sleep. And if she had something else in mind, she was way off. He _certainly _was not going to rape an annoying airhead like her. "No," he replied curtly. "Never mind. So, when can I talk to these Hyuuga people and get this over with?"

"We should do it as soon as possible since they kind of want to kill me." Sakura laughed nervously. "Also, I want the Hyuugas and me to be on good terms by the time my parents get back."

Sasuke did not care to ask where her parents were. In fact, he had already talked much more than his usual quota per day.

A knock at the front door drew both kitchen occupants' attention to it. Sakura looked fretful.

"Oh, dear," she muttered, standing from the table. "I hope it's not a Hyuuga..."

Sasuke didn't know who Neji was, but it was clear he would not be welcome by Sakura's worried tone of voice. The Uchiha man stood from the table and followed Sakura to the front door. His katana was in its holster across his back, and his hands were stuffed into his pockets, gripping several kunai, when Sakura pulled open the door.

"Ino!" she exclaimed in surprise. She pulled the door open all the way, all fears of Neji come to throttle her gone.

"Hey, Sakura!" the pretty blonde responded with a grin. She shifted her gaze to the dark-looking man standing to the left and slightly behind her childhood friend. She gasped slightly. "Sakura, you little temptress! Who is this you're hiding?"

Ino pushed past Sakura to sexily saunter up to Sasuke. He stared down at her, unimpressed. "And what is your name?" she asked.

"Sasuke," he replied, not bothering to ask hers. Ino merely circled him like a vulture. Sakura sighed exasperatedly and stalked up to her friend and "peacemaker."

"Ino, Sasuke is serving as my peacemaker with the Hyuugas."

Ino's mouth formed an 'o' shape as she stared him up and down appraisingly. Sakura smirked triumphantly. She now had one up on Ino. Sasuke was rather feeling like a particularly plump cow on display at an auction. When whores sometimes didn't charge him, that gave him something of a clue that he was at least decent looking, but this blonde girl was just ridiculous!

"Well, it just so happens that I'm having a little bit of a problem myself. I could certainly use your services, Sasuke," Ino suggested with a coy smile.

"Problems with who?" Sakura demanded.

"Uh... Shikamaru," Ino replied absently. Sakura scoffed.

"You are not."

"Yes, I am, forehead girl!" Ino said hotly.

Sakura glared right back at the blonde woman. "You are not, Ino-pig!"

Sasuke watched the two of them bicker for a moment before losing interest. He turned away and walked back into the kitchen to seek out some of the ramen that the weird Naruto-guy had left behind the night before.

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"Why do I need to meet the girl?" Sasuke demanded irritably.

"_Hinata_," Sakura pressed. "And because the Hyuugas won't believe a word you say if you don't even know which one Hinata is."

Sasuke mumbled something under his breath, but shoved his hands in his pockets and followed Sakura down the street anyway.

He had passed through the Hidden Leaf village a few years back, but he had not really gotten a good look at it. It was quaint and peaceful, he thought. He liked the weather, but then, in his mind's eye, he was comparing it to the Hidden Sand village. Any village was better than that hot, dusty, bowl of hell.

Out of all the villages he had been to, the Hidden Cloud village was probably his favorite since the "old man" was there. He was rather fond of the old geezer, although he did not visit often nowadays.

His least favorite village, aside from the Sand, was the Sound village. As far as he was concerned, all of its occupants could jump off a cliff or drown, or a combination of the two. It was there that he had received a rather unwelcome gift. He had damn near killed himself when it was forced on him. He had vowed to someday kill the bastard who gave it to him, but that day had not come yet.

"Oh, lovely Sakura!"

Sasuke looked up at the obnoxious yell from the side of the street. Sakura had stopped and was waving to someone. He turned to see a man with enormous eyebrows and a bowl-cut hairdo running across the street to stop in front of the pair.

He pointed at Sasuke. "Is this sinister-looking man harrassing you? I'll protect you!" the man declared, striking his 'nice guy' pose. Sasuke arched a delicate brow, but didn't feel compelled to say anything in his defense.

Sakura looked from her "peacemaker" back to the man with a confused expression. "Him? Oh, no, Lee! He is my peacemaker!"

Lee relaxed and held out a hand to Sasuke who looked at it disdainfully before shaking it briefly. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr...?"

"Sasuke."

"Is that your first or last name?" Lee asked, wondering if he would be addressing him too informally if it was his first name. It sounded like a first name more than a last name. However, the peacemaker didn't reply to his question, but instead turned away and stared off down the street.

Lee looked questioningly to Sakura, but she just smiled and shrugged. She beamed when she saw a woman exit a nearby shop.

"Hinata!" she called out, waving. The ebony-haired woman turned at her name and waved, as well. She walked up to the small group.

"Hello, Sakura," she responded quietly.

Sakura tapped Sasuke on the shoulder to get his attention. "Sasuke, this is Hinata, the woman I wanted you to meet."

Sasuke half-turned then to acknowledge the Hyuuga girl. She was staring down at her feet, but Sasuke could still see that her eyes were solid white. He was curious, but not enough to ask. He wasn't too impressed, but he did not really care for the timid and shy types of women.

"You wanted him to meet me?" Hinata wondered aloud, blushing slightly.

Sakura nodded. "Yes. You see, he is going to help me with your family."

Hinata understood immediately what Sakura was referring to. Hinata was a bit hesitant about this prospect, but kept her thoughts to herself. She peeked at Sasuke again. He did not seem like a peacemaker to her. Actually, he looked rather ticked off about something. Was he angry or was this how he always looked, she wondered.

"Hinata," a deep voice interrupted. Everyone turned to their right to see another man approaching them. Sasuke noticed that Sakura inched back ever so slightly.

The man was imposing looking with his prideful stature. His eyes matched Hinata's. Sasuke gathered that it must be a family trait, and this man must be another Hinata. That would, at least, explain Sakura's response to his arrival.

"Hello, Neji," Hinata replied, bowing her head slightly. Sasuke felt the need to roll his eyes, but refrained from doing so.

Neji turned his colorless eyes on Sakura, and they narrowed considerably. "What are _you _doing here?"

Sakura looked a mixture of being affronted and frightened. Before she could decide whether to yell at him or run away and hide, Sasuke was finally speaking up from her side.

"Who are you?" he demanded quietly of Neji. The Hyuuga prodigy shifted his penetrating gaze to Sasuke.

"I am Neji Hyuuga," the long-haired man answered regally. "And you are?"

"Sasuke."

Lee realized at that point that Sasuke probably did not say much. He knew what Neji was capable of, and he hoped that the two men who were still sizing each other up did not come to blows in the middle of the street. He would not want his dear Sakura to see such a thing!

"Just Sasuke, is it?" Neji said. Sasuke thought he detected a bit of sneer in the other man's tone.

"Yes," he replied coolly.

Neji thought he saw Sasuke's eyes flash blood-red for a split-second, but he figured it was just his own eyes playing tricks on him. He stared at Hinata. "You should not keep such company," he told her, glancing once more at Sakura to get his point across. "Come on."

Hinata smiled regrettably at Sakura before following Neji off down the street. After the pair had disappeared from view, Sakura turned to Sasuke. "That was Hinata's cousin. He's the Hyuuga 'genius,'" she told him, making quotation marks with her fingers and rolling her eyes.

"He was just her cousin?" Sasuke looked a little surprised. "I figured he was her brother, what with his over-protectiveness." He gave Sakura a once-over. "They really hate you."

Sakura looked scandalized. "Thank you. How very perceptive." She turned to Lee who was standing silently on her other side. He was watching Neji and Hinata disappear around a corner. "We have to be going now, Lee. I'll talk to you later."

Lee looked back at her then. "All right then, Sakura. Until the next time we meet!" After he planted a cheesy kiss on her hand, he waved and walked off down the street.

"When do I talk to the other Hyuugas?" Sasuke asked as he and Sakura made their way back to her house.

Sakura looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, after running into Neji, I don't think it would be a good idea today. Maybe tomorrow."

Sasuke sighed. He really wanted to get this over with, but he supposed he could wait one more day. He looked around uninterestedly as they made their way back. He noticed a street on his left that he hadn't seen before. He stopped and stared down it. Nobody seemed to be walking around on the street.

"What's down there?" he asked. Sakura stopped walking and turned around to see where he was pointing at.

"Oh, that street's been abandoned since I was a kid. They say a tragedy happened to the people who lived there, but nobody really knows what. The elders don't talk about it. Some of the older adults know what happened, but they don't talk about it either."

Sasuke was silent for a moment. His stomach ached as he stared down the abandoned street. House windows were boarded up, and there was not a soul in sight. The street seemed so familiar to him for some reason, and the more he thought about it, the sicker he felt. Did something happen to him on that street? He couldn't remember.

"Do you know who used to live there?" he asked Sakura. She was a bit shocked at how talkative he was all of a sudden. She tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm, now that I think about it, it was the family you asked me about earlier," she replied, now realizing why the name had sounded so familiar. "The Uchiha clan." She peered at Sasuke curiously now, but he did not say anything.

Sasuke's insides started to churn even harsher than before. He knew his name was Sasuke Uchiha. He had remembered that much after the first few weeks of wandering around when he was a child. If that was so, then something tragic had happened to him and the other Uchihas. What happened to his family? And why had he lost his memory?

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I didn't expect it to take me two weeks to write this chapter, but alas, I've been busy. I hope you all enjoyed it!


	3. Chapter 3

Widowmaker

Chapter Three

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A/N: I was looking through my artwork folder today and saw the artwork which inspired this fanfic. In case you all want to have a look at it (it is simply _amazing_), here's the link! Full view is definitely recommended.

www . deviantart . com/deviation/10221524/

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Sakura gently tapped the ebony-haired Uchiha on the shoulder. "Sasuke?"

The man was awake and on the alert so quickly that Sakura had absolutely no time at all to react before the blade was pressed sharp against her throat, and she found herself flat on her back underneath him. Her gasp was so harsh that she started to cough, an action which pressed the blade deeper into her throat, creating a thin line of crimson blood.

"Sasuke!" she choked out. She stared up into eyes as black as sin.

From his place straddled above her, Sasuke drew in a breath and removed the blade from her throat. Her hand instantly went to the skin to see if she was badly injured, which she wasn't. Sasuke moved off of her, glaring harshly at her in the dim early-morning sunlight. "Don't do that again because I won't be held responsible if I kill you."

He stood from the bed and began to dress. Still shocked, Sakura's mind barely registered that the assassin was shirtless. After taking a closer look, however, her cut throat was quickly forgotten. Also forgotten was any thought of yelling at him for nearly killing her.

She scooted off the bed to stand next to him. She pointed at a long scar that ran the length of his back diagonally. "How'd you get that?"

"A mistake," came the simple answer.

After a few seconds, she planted her hands on her hips. "Well, aren't you going to tell me what kind of mistake?"

"No."

Sakura's face twisted up. "Fine then." Then she spotted another mark on his physique. "What's that on your neck?"

Sasuke's hand flew to the side of his neck to cover up the black mark for a moment. Then he finished putting his shirt on; Sakura wished he hadn't. She would have liked to have seen his chest first. Sasuke turned around to face her stoically.

"None of your business, unless you plan to take _your _shirt off for me to stare at _you _and ask stupid questions," he replied seriously. Sakura blushed furiously and shook her head.

"Why are you in my room anyway?" he continued in an annoyed tone. Sakura decided not to point out that it was _her _house, and this was in fact _her _room. Well, her parents', but still.

"I was going to ask you what you wanted for breakfast," she replied.

"I'm not hungry," Sasuke answered quickly—a little too quickly. Sakura raised a brow, but he busied himself with picking up his katana from under his pillow and placing it on his back. She observed him silently. Not very many ninjas in the Hidden Leaf village carried swords with them. The only ninjas she had seen do that were ANBU ninjas. The more Sakura was around Sasuke, the more she was fascinated by him.

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Thirty minutes later, she was apt to change her mind about that due to the fact that her house "guest" was currently pointing that sword in Hinata's father's face. Hinata's father, Neji, and two other Hyuuga men had come to visit Sakura for some odd reason. As soon as Sasuke had seen that the visitors were, indeed, dreaded Hyuugas, he had drawn his katana from its scabbard quicker than Sakura's chuunin-level eyes could follow.

"So, it _is _true that you're housing the assassin-for-hire, Sasuke Uchiha," Hinata's father, Hiashi, concluded, outraged at the blade in his face. The man glared at Sakura accusingly. "Why is that exactly?" Sakura just stared at Hiashi, taking Sasuke's full name into her memory as it was the first time she had heard it all. She was surprised that Hiashi Hyuuga knew it.

"Is that really your business?" Sasuke asked, not liking how he was already the center of attention. That always seemed to happen to him. He sheathed his katana and turned slightly to the side, crossing his arms over his chest boredly.

"Yes, it is," Hinata's father continued in a much calmer tone now that he wasn't being threatened. "Don't act so careless."

Sasuke allowed a small smirk to grace his features. "You have no idea how much effort goes into my casual disinterest."

Sakura was now in full-scale panic. It was obvious that Neji had went straight home the day before and told his uncle about Sakura's temporary roommate. It was also obvious that Hinata's father had come to the conclusion that Sakura had hired Sasuke to "take care" of the Hyuugas. How could she possibly convince them otherwise?

"He-he's my fiancee."

Sakura could not tell whose eyes were wider—Sasuke's or Hiashi's. She resisted the urge to take back what she said. It had to be done. Now, all she had to do was hope Sasuke wouldn't kill her in her sleep. Who knew what atrocities he was capable of anyway?

"Your fiancee!" Neji blurted out in a mix of shock and humor. Sakura cringed; if _Neji _was amused, she knew the other Hyuugas definitely didn't believe her. Neji shook his head and arrogantly stared down his nose at her. "And what about Lee?"

"W-Well, Lee and I are just friends!" she replied.

"How did you meet this assassin then?" Hiashi asked suspiciously. He was glaring at Sasuke intently, apparently trying to read the brooding man's emotions. It wasn't working, for the Uchiha was back to having a face which showed less emotion than a rock.

Sakura racked her brain for an answer to the Hyuuga's question. "I met him in the Hidden Grass village when I went there on vacation in the spring."

Neji made a disgusted sound, and Hiashi voiced why. "You were only there for _two weeks!"_

Sakura laughed lightly and yanked Sasuke to her. "Well, we fell in love fast, you know!"

Hiashi was clearly still unconvinced. His pupil-less eyes bored into Sakura's green ones as if he was trying to read her mind. She was not sure, but she wondered if the Byakuugan allowed its owner to read minds? Cringing, she decided to clear her mind, just in case.

"There is something about the Uchihas," Hiashi started. Sakura looked over at him to see his attention was now on Sasuke, who appeared to be disinterested in what the older man was saying. "Are you the only survivor?"

Sakura gasped, and she heard Sasuke's sharp intake of breath. Sakura steeled herself and faced the Hyuugas. "I think our business is concluded here. I've written my parents, as you requested, if that's what you're here to check about. My _fiancee _is none of your concern, no matter his... his career." With that, Sakura silently dismissed the Hyuugas by closing the door. She turned to face Sasuke; he was staring at the wall with a confused look on his face.

"I am sorry for what they said. The 'main house' Hyuugas tend to be really arrogant," Sakura said regretfully, although she wondered why she was apologizing for them. "Did your family pass away recently?"

Sasuke looked up at her then as if he was seeing her for the first time. After a few silent moments, he replied, "I didn't know they were dead."

Sakura was now the one who was confused. "You didn't know they were dead? How could you not know?"

Sasuke wondered if he wanted to tell her so much about himself. He had only known her for a few days. He had no clue how old she was, what she did for a living, or anything about her really—and vice versa. And, he _really _did not know if he wanted to tell her so much about himself after her little 'fiancee' stunt. He did not appreciate being an accomplice to a lie which was very hard to swallow, such as that one. Still, he sighed in a resigned manner.

"I lost my memory when I was young. I woke up one day in the middle of a forest, and I didn't know how I had gotten there. I wandered from village to village until finally an old man in the Hidden Cloud village took me in. I started to remember a few things, like my name, as time wore on, but I still don't remember a lot. I never knew what happened to my family, or why I was lost."

Sasuke felt like he had spoken for an hour, although it had only been a minute. Sakura gasped loudly all of a sudden.

"Uchiha!" she exclaimed, mouth wide open. "The family you asked me about! Your name is Sasuke Uchiha!" She glared at him as if he were evil for deliberately keeping information from her.

"Congratulations. You're not a complete idiot," he drawled.

Despite his rude statement, her face softened. "Your family—you—used to live on that street we saw. But, it's been abandoned for as long as I can remember. I don't know anything about your family though."

Sasuke stared at his feet again, deep in thought. So deep in thought was he that he nearly lost his balance when Sakura hugged him tightly from behind. His skin tingled. It had been so long since he had been hugged. He even waited a few seconds before pulling out of her grip.

Sakura could not even begin to fathom why she was hugging this man-killing, snarky jerk. She attributed it to being too soft; she felt terribly sorry for him for his loss of memory and family. However, her meddling instincts were now focused entirely on finding out what had happened to his family. She knew the village elders knew, and she intended to find out.

"And if you ever tell anyone you're engaged to me again, I'll kill you."

Sakura looked up then and focused on Sasuke's back. She was a bit frightened at his threat since she knew what he was capable of, but she was more embarrassed than anything. That really had been the only thing she could think of to explain his presence.

"I-I'm sorry about that. They'll likely forget I even said it!" She laughed lightly, trying to blow it off. Sasuke just glared at her, then walked off.

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Sakura sighed impatiently. "It really isn't necessary for you to be hounding my heels."

Sasuke snorted from behind her. "Listen, until you let me either talk to the Hyuugas or kill them, I need to protect you from them. Don't forget about my debt."

"You're not going to kill them!" she snapped.

"Dear Sakura!"

Sakura spun around, startled by the loud calling of her name. She cringed when she realized who was headed straight for her.

"Sakura," Lee repeated as he stopped in front of her, "this man is your fiancee?"

Sakura almost could not stand the look of betrayal in Lee's eyes. True, she had never really voiced a want for a relationship with him, but they had always had an affection for each other. When Sakura didn't answer immediately, Lee turned toward Sasuke, furrowing his thick brows.

"Sasuke Uchiha the assassin! You are unworthy of my dear Sakura."

If possible, Sasuke's sarcastic expression became even more so. "You don't say."

"I do!" Lee replied forcefully.

"'Kay, thanks, bye," Sasuke said, turning away dismissively. Sakura covered her mouth to gracefully stifle a laugh. Sasuke really did not seem to like anyone. When Lee looked angry enough to start a fight with Sasuke, Sakura dragged her houseguest off, bidding Lee a quick good-bye. She did _not _want Sasuke to kill any of her friends; that would make for rather a bad day. She would have to talk to Lee—alone—soon though.

They turned a corner, and Sasuke spotted a building in the distance which he assumed they were headed toward. He didn't feel like asking though. It didn't seem familiar to him.

"This is the academy," Sakura told him, as if she sensed his mild curiosity. "I'm a medinin, but I help out at the academy two days a week. We're getting ready for the genin exam, so it's been really busy lately."

"Hn."

"I'm just here to get paperwork," she continued, "but you can say hi to all of the kids."

Sasuke nodded for a moment, then stopped mid-step. "What?"

Sakura smiled reassuringly, but Sasuke felt trapped. He was not especially good with children. In fact, he had not really been around any in a long time. So, he firmly said, "No."

Sakura looked dismayed. "Why no?" When he didn't answer, she just shrugged and entered the academy.

"Haruno-sensei! Haruno-sensei!"

Sakura and Sasuke turned around in unison as a young boy ran up to them. He was practically jumping up and down. Sakura smiled down at the brunette boy. "What is it?"

"I'm gonna be a genin tomorrow!" he exclaimed animatedly.

"I know! And you'll be a great chuunin and then jounin someday!" Sakura patted him on the head.

The boy peered at her curiously. "When are _you _gonna be a jounin, Haruno-sensei?"

Sakura chuckled, looking a bit sheepish. She knew she was not strong enough to pass the jounin exam, but she was satisfied with chuunin level. It was enough for her medinin career and to help out at the academy.

"I don't know; maybe someday," she responded warmly. The boy pointed at Sasuke now. The assassin lifted a brow.

"Is _he_ a jounin?"

Sakura shrugged and looked to Sasuke for the answer. He shook his head.

"So, he's weak?" the boy continued. Sasuke snorted. He refrained from telling the kid he had slaughtered jounin-level ninja without breaking a sweat. He didn't want to scare the little twerp, after all.

"Don't be rude, Kashin," Sakura reprimanded with a frown of disapproval. The boy bowed to Sasuke.

"Sorry, mister. Maybe you aren't weak," the boy allowed, twirling a small blade in his hand. Sakura wondered where he got it. Sasuke unsheathed his katana, sliced the blade into hundreds of pieces, and sheathed his katana once more before the boy realized what had happened. He stared at his empty hand for a minute before noticing the shattered pieces on the floor.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shrieked, worried that he may have injured the boy in the process.

"Woah!" the boy exclaimed. "That was cool, mister!" His mouth was wide with awe as he stared up at the assassin. Sasuke smirked, but didn't say anything else.

As he and Sakura were exiting the academy after she collected her paperwork, she peered at him out of the corner of her eye. "You're pretty good with kids."

He glanced at her then, surprised. "Guess so."

She winked at him teasingly. "I'll sign you up to be an academy helper while you're here."

If he didn't realize she was kidding, he might have been tempted to choke her. Becoming a teacher was the last thing he wanted to do.

After five minutes of silence, Sakura asked, "You're not jounin?"

"Not even genin," he replied shortly.

Sakura did not consider asking anymore. She realized that due to his orphaned upbringing, he likely never attended academy nor took any of the exams. She was sure he must have been strong enough to be jounin if he ever did take the exam. Even though she was wary of him because he seemed to be so unpredictable, she couldn't help feeling sorry for him every time he opened his mouth.

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Really not satisfied with this chapter. Oh well. Review please!


	4. Chapter 4

Widowmaker

Chapter Four

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A/N: Okay. Kill me now. XD LYKOMGWTFBBQ!1!11shiftone!1 I have been uber-busy. Negligence, like whoa. Anyway, here's chapter four. Actually, I haven't signed into FFdotnet in two months. I was going to dump this story, but then I saw how many of you have it on Story Alert, and I just had to update. You guys inspired me! Too bad only a fourth of you who have it on Story Alert review. Hint, hint. XD

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_They're all dead. It's just me. _Sasuke closed his eyes and turned over onto his side. It was no use though. He was much too troubled to find peaceful sleep. He had already fallen asleep and woken up four times that he could remember.

He had known something was wrong when Sakura and he had passed that abandoned street. When Hiashi Hyuuga asked if he was the only survivor of the Uchiha clan, his innermost fears had been more or less confirmed. His family had died. It was clear to him now even though he didn't remember. How? What had happened? Why was he alive?

It hurt…

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_Sakura,_

_We are on our way back right now. We don't believe a word you said about things being okay. What happened! _

_Love,_

_Mom and Dad_

The pink-haired kunoichi sighed in a depressed manner. She had thought her letter was quite convincing. She tossed the partially-folded letter onto the table and leaned back in the chair, tossing her arm over her eyes.

"Hey."

Sakura was so startled by the deep voice above her that she tumbled back in her chair. She shrieked a bit as she lost her balance, falling completely backward. She was calmly held up underneath each arm by her houseguest. The chair clattered against the floor.

"Don't scare me like that!" she snapped, glaring up at Sasuke. He stared down at her silently, his facial expression revealing nothing. He set her down on the floor and turned to the side.

Finally, he replied in a condescending tone, "Don't fall over like an idiot."

"What are you doing, hovering over me like that, anyway?" she demanded quietly, feeling rather embarrassed that she had fallen over like that in front of _him_.

He lifted a brow, looking a bit scandalized. "Not what you're thinking, princess," he told her in a sarcastic tone. "I called your name twice, and you just sat there like a zombie. You do that a lot, don't you, airhead?"

"I don't! I just didn't hear you!" she shot back, feeling her face warm with even more embarrassment. She didn't want to admit it, but his name-calling also hurt her feelings somewhat. Airhead? She was top of the class at the academy!

Sasuke merely shrugged and pointed behind him towards the living room. "Narutard is in the living room."

"Naru_to_!" Sakura corrected irritably, picking herself up off the ground. She dusted herself off and made her way towards the living room with Sasuke a few steps behind, hands shoved in his pockets.

The blonde ninja had let himself in before Sasuke could protest. The man wasn't a Hyuuga, and he knew Sakura, so Sasuke had just assumed Sakura allowed him to come in whenever he wanted.

"Naruto?" Sakura whispered, prodding the jounin in the shoulder. He appeared to be passed out on her couch, but he couldn't have been there for very long. She jumped a little when he finally spoke.

"They won't let me see Hinata again."

Sakura sighed and sat down on the couch, laying across her best friend. "Did you try to go see her at the main house?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Neji told me, 'Idiots will be stabbed on sight.' When I told him to fuck off, he said, 'Survivors will be stabbed again.' That bastard."

"Is Neji the one from yesterday?" Sasuke wondered aloud. At Sakura's nod, he continued, "He's confident, isn't he?"

Sakura scoffed. "If you think he's bad now, you should have seen him before Naruto beat him when we were kids. He thought he was a god then. He's a hundred percent better now."

"If you like her, why do you let this Neji get in the way?" Sasuke asked, directing his attention to Naruto now.

"It's not that easy! And who the hell do you think you are anyway?" Naruto shot back, knocking Sakura off the couch in his haste to face his 'opponent.'

"Naruto!" Sakura snapped, picking herself up off the floor for the second time in the past twenty minutes. She stepped in between the two men, planting her hands on her hips. "Stop it, you two!"

"Feh, idiot," Sasuke muttered, turning away and crossing his arms over his chest.

"You…!" Naruto trailed off angrily, gifting Sasuke with a rude hand gesture.

A knock at the door drew everyone's attention to it. Sakura motioned toward it. "Look, that's probably Hinata right now. I'll be right back." She made her way down the hall and to the front door, swinging it open.

In the living room, Sasuke and Naruto continued to stare each other down. The air was stifling around them, but neither would back down.

"You need to stay away from Sakura. You're a bad influence," Naruto said seriously.

Sasuke expelled a breath. "I'd like to care, but I don't possess that gene."

"You son of a…!"

A light yelp from the front door area brought the quarreling men's attentions to it. Almost instantaneously, Sakura found herself standing behind Sasuke and Naruto. Both men had katana and kunai drawn at the ready as they faced the guests standing outside.

"H…hey!" Sakura started. She reached a hand out to stop the pair from destroying the visitors.

"What did they do?" Sasuke asked, his ebony orbs never moving from their place looking ahead.

"Did they touch you?" Naruto demanded, his eyes also trained on the visitors.

Sakura was a bit surprised. She had yelped, but only because she had been startled to see the four male Hyuugas from before at her door; she had been expecting Hinata. They had not touched her though.

"Sakura Haruno, it seems you attract orphaned outcasts," Hiashi Hyuuga commented lightly.

"I am not an orphaned outcast," Sasuke and Naruto declared simultaneously. They glanced at each other.

"Yes, you are," they commented together. They glared at each other.

"How would you know?"

Sasuke slapped a hand to his forehead and decided not to say anything else since it was very likely Naruto would somehow say the exact same thing. How troublesome. Sakura, still behind the two, stifled her giggles with a hand. It was true anyway; neither of them knew if the other was really an orphaned outcast.

Hiashi Hyuuga also seemed quite amused. He held up his hands in a surrendering motion. "You may drop your weapons. I come bearing good news!"

His light-hearted tone was entirely suspicious in Sakura's opinion. It appeared Naruto and Sasuke were not fooled either. In addition, Neji's smirking face behind his uncle's was another cause for concern. Neji did not smirk without reason. In fact, if his facial expression was anything other than a stoic mask, one should wonder what the hell was going on.

"And what good news is that?" Sakura questioned, glancing from Neji back to Hiashi.

Hinata's father smiled broadly. "Neji told us how the two of you are engaged, and I thought what better way to show our fondness of you, but to pay for your marriage!"

Sakura gasped, words failing her.

"What?" Sasuke hissed dangerously.

"They're getting married?" Naruto asked dumbfounded.

Sakura's senses came back to her, and she shoved Naruto aside. "Sir," she laughed nervously. "I appreciate your offer, but it's really unnecessary!"

"I insist!" Hiashi returned.

"But, I would like to wait for my parents to return before I get married!"

Neji suggested, "You can always have a second ceremony. After all, such happiness should be repeated."

Sakura glared at Neji, silently wishing him a most excruciating death.

"We've already gathered your closest friends, and they're waiting to see your wedding!" Hiashi continued graciously. Sakura wanted to kill him. The thought of killing brought another gasp to her lips. She shifted her gaze to Sasuke.

_Oh, my God! He's going to kill them! He'll really kill them for this! _Sasuke's katana had been sheathed on his back once again at some point during the conversation, and he was turned slightly with his hands shoved in his pockets. Actually, he did not look that angry, but Sakura knew the deadliest people were the ones who controlled themselves.

"Really, we should wait—"

"Sakura, just drop it." Sasuke's intervention completely shocked Sakura. When he took her by the hand and started to lead her out the door, she could not even speak a word to stop him.

As the group made their way through the streets toward the church, Sakura tugged on her soon-to-be husband's hand. "Sasuke! What are you doing?"

"Shut up," he hissed. "They'll get suspicious if we don't do it."

Sakura tried to ignore the fact that Naruto was staring at her as if she had grown a second head. Inwardly, she was somewhat excited that she was marrying such a handsome, dangerously exciting man. Outwardly, she was scared to death that Sasuke would kill everyone once he realized what he was doing.

When they reached the church, Sakura found that several of her friends were, indeed, waiting inside. Most of them looked as if they had seen a ghost. However, Lee resembled a child who had been told Christmas was cancelled this year.

Sakura gave Lee a pleading look, silently begging him to understand. He stared at her in utter betrayal for a moment before facing forward again. Ino's mouth was gaping open as she watched her close friend enter the church to get married.

"What the hell?" she mouthed silently. Sakura shrugged helplessly. Several other academy graduates from her year were present, as well.

Sakura heard Tenten whisper, "What have you done?" as Neji sat down next to her. The Hyuuga prodigy ignored her question.

Kakashi, Sakura's dear teacher, was sitting in the middle with his usual nonchalant expression. In fact, he looked like he always did. The only hint that he was slightly disturbed by his student suddenly getting married was that he was not reading his Ichi Ichi Paradise book.

Hinata was sitting in the front row, turned around to stare at Sakura and Sasuke in a mix of surprise and guilt. "Sakura…" she trailed off timidly.

The pink-haired kunoichi waved her off, dismissing her worries with a small smile. Sakura glanced behind her to see Naruto had stopped at the door, and his eyes were still enormous.

Sakura turned to Sasuke. "Don't kill them!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke demanded in an annoyed tone. When he noticed the priest staring at the display oddly, he added an awkward, "Dear."

Sakura glanced down at herself and Sasuke. She was just wearing her normal ninja attire, and she hadn't even brushed her hair or teeth yet that morning. She was definitely not at her best. Sasuke, on the other hand, seemed to look good no matter what time of day it was. But, he had not even removed his sword. No matter how they looked, it was happening.

They were getting married.

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The main question for this chapter: Will Sasuke kill them all? XD Be sure to review and let me know what you all thought of this chapter. I'll try to have the next up sooner than two months. XD


	5. Chapter 5

Widowmaker

Chapter Five

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Sakura sneaked another peek at the man walking along beside her. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his face was a blank mask; he appeared much like he always did. He was silent, but of course, he usually didn't say much anyway.

At the ceremony, Sakura had been so nervous that she had yelled "I do!" before she had even been asked if she took Sasuke to be her lawfully-wedded husband. It had taken Sasuke half a minute to put the ring (kindly supplied by Hiashi) on her finger because her hand was shaking so badly. Finally, he had jammed it on, probably ripping off a bit of her skin in the process.

Sakura had seen Hinata pleading with her father out of the corner of her eye, but Hiashi just kept a cruel smirk on his face. The pink-haired kunoichi imagined his thinking to be somewhere along the lines of 'it serves the meddling bitch right.'

Sasuke had dragged Sakura out of the church before "You may kiss the bride" had been said; Sakura didn't try to fight him on that one. As they rushed past, everyone was staring at them in a mix of complete confusion and pity. It was probably obvious that they hadn't married of their own choice. Those who knew Sakura best _definitely _realized that. However, Naruto had not been looking at her and Sasuke as they stormed out of the church. He had been glaring intently at Neji with a determined look in his eyes that Sakura had not seen in many years.

Sakura's sweet personality felt pity for Neji because Naruto might try to kill him. But, Sakura's not-so-sweet personality firmly thought, _Kick his arrogant, horrible, God-forsaken ass, Naruto! Do it!_

Sakura looked to her side again. Sasuke was glaring broodingly forward as he trudged down the street.

"You know, Sasuke, it's actually pretty funny when you stop to think about it!" Sakura laughed lightly, waving her hand. Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, turning to face her completely. He grabbed her by the shoulders, yanking her face close to his.

Sakura grew red in the face. _Oh, my God! He's going to kiss me! _Her heart fluttered in anticipation of being kissed by such a good-looking man. She closed her eyes quickly, puckering out her lips a bit.

"Sakura." Her eyes fluttered back open. Sasuke was frowning, his eyes narrowed. "You have absolutely no idea how _un_funny this is."

She laughed nervously again. "No, but I bet you're going to tell me."

"When I get the hell out of this village, you are going to mail me annulment papers, and then I don't ever want to hear from you again." He shoved her away a bit and continued walking. Sakura was slightly hurt, but said nothing else.

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Several hours later found Sasuke laying on the couch and Sakura in the kitchen going over a list of the names of the academy students taking the genin exam. They had not said another word to each other since that morning. A knock at the door drew Sakura's attention, but grumpy Sasuke obviously had no intention of answering the door. She dropped her pen on the table and rose from the table.

Making her way over to the door and opening it, she felt her blood start to boil. She ground out, "May I help you?"

The sound of Neji's soft reply of "sure" brought Sasuke's attention to the door.

Neji Hyuuga continued, "I just came to check up on the newlyweds."

Sakura glared evilly at the prodigy. "You know very well we had no intention of getting married. How could you be so spiteful?"

"You meddled in my cousin's life," he responded calmly, eying the décor of the entry hall as if he actually cared what it looked like.

"You practically hate Hinata!" Sakura shot back.

Neji hmph'd. "Listen, girl, it was fair what we did to you. We will leave you alone now until your parents return."

"Good because I'm sick of seeing your face!" With that, Sakura slammed the door shut. She turned around, stamped her foot on the floor a few times, and let out a small scream. Sasuke merely stared at her as if she weren't acting like a complete psycho at the moment.

He was slightly taken aback when she suddenly gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "I just slammed the door shut in a Hyuuga's face!" She whirled around and flung open the door again, but Neji was nowhere in sight. She sighed, shutting the door quietly.

"That's pretty nice considering I was about to slice his damn head off."

Sakura slowly turned around, lifting a sculpted brow. "Don't you feel any remorse at all for what you do?"

"Sure, I do," he drawled. "I'd have to clean my katana if I did that to him." She made a disgusted sound, but he continued nonchalantly, "I especially feel remorse when my client decides to stiff me out of my money. Then, I have to do _two _assassinations without getting a penny for it."

"You're a bloodthirsty killer!" Sakura yelled, clenching her hands into tight fists. Sasuke sat up on the couch, narrowing his eyes. He had only been provoking her, but they had both taken it too far.

"Don't act like you've never killed anyone, little _kunoichi_," the ebony-haired man said lowly, standing up and walking over to her. He stopped in front of her, mere inches away. "That's right. Nothing to say because you have." He leaned down to whisper next to her ear. She shivered from the warm breath against her neck. "Don't be so quick to condemn me. You know me not at all."

Sakura could not have been more relieved when he chose that moment to walk out of her house. She did not know how long she stood breathing heavily, staring at the spot in front of her where the assassin had been.

Finally, she shook herself out of her stupor. She looked around briefly before leaving her house, as well. Not too long after, she found herself at her best friend's house. She let herself in with her key.

"Naruto?" she questioned into the darkness of the living room. After a few seconds, the blond man entered the living room from a side bedroom.

"Sakura," he started in surprise. His features hardened. "About the wedding, they won't get away—"

"Naruto, why are you wearing those clothes?" Sakura interrupted, motioning to his black tight shorts and shirt with grey vest. He was pulling one black glove up to his bicep. Realization dawned on her features. "No! You have an ANBU mission _now_?"

Naruto was disheartened at his friend's depressed expression, and for the first time, he wished he could deny the fact that he was going on an ANBU mission; he had always loved them. It couldn't be helped though. "Yes, I'm sorry. I'll be gone for two or three days."

"Darn that Shikamaru!" Sakura complained, referring to the ANBU unit's leader. She looked back up at Naruto. "I wanted to stay with you tonight…"

"I could kill those Hyuugas for what they did to you," Naruto growled, his eyes flashing furiously. His features softened when he gazed at Sakura again. "You can stay here though if you want." He hugged her tightly then. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "I have to go."

He pulled away, and Sakura watched him slip his white ANBU mask on and quickly leave his house. Sakura sighed once she was alone and looked around. Naruto's house wasn't nearly as inviting without his grinning face and loud voice in it.

She briefly thought of Ino. She would probably be alone since Shikamaru was gone with Naruto and the other few ANBU of their unit. Despite her constant denials and claims that he was lazy and worthless, Ino spent many nights with Shikamaru. Sakura figured she could spend the night with Ino. She did not want to return to her home because Sasuke would probably be there. There was too much tension between them now.

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Sasuke sat down on a stool at the bar in a larger ramen shop. After ordering straight vodka, he rested his chin on a hand, staring around the shop. Off in one corner was a man with a dog, both of them obviously drunk as they danced on top of a table in front of another man who was trying to pretend he didn't know the dancers.

Sasuke was pleased that he didn't spot any Hyuugas around. He did, however, notice a man with light grey hair staring at him peculiarly. His one visible eye was half-lidded lazily, and he didn't seem to care that Sasuke noticed him staring. Sasuke recognized him from the wedding earlier that day.

The older man did not appear as if he was going to stop staring any time soon, so Sasuke turned back to face forward at the bar. How had such a simple mission turned into such a mess? All he had to do was tell these Hyuugas that the Narutard was worthy of marrying that girl. He had already been here a week without even accomplishing that, and what was worse? He had gotten married to a girl he barely knew! Now, his past was coming back to haunt him, thanks to Hiashi Hyuuga's nice little comment about him being an orphan. Now, he actually wanted to know how his clan had died.

He accepted the shot of vodka and downed it, squinting against the burn as it slithered down his throat, and then he ordered another. He just wanted to forget the hell he had been through the past week.

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"Sakura!" Ino exclaimed in surprise when she pulled open her door. Then she arched an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be with your gorgeous husband?"

Sakura dragged herself inside and over to Ino's couch, flopping down onto it wordlessly. Ino stared at her strangely for a minute before closing the door and joining her friend.

"What's up with you?" the blonde wondered.

Sakura gripped her hair and started to pull on it, angry with herself. "My parents are going to kill me when they get back!"

"Just because you went for it and married that hunkalicious manbeef, Sasuke?"

Sakura glared at Ino pointedly. "You know me well enough to be able to tell I did not _choose _to marry him. The Hyuugas forced us!"

Ino smiled sadly and patted her friend's back. "Yes, I could tell. They can be pretty spiteful, can't they?"

"Sasuke hates me now, not that I blame him. What am I going to do?" Sakura whimpered, covering her face with her hands. When she felt something touch her shoulder, she peeked through her fingers to see Ino holding out a bottle of alcohol.

"Drink up and cheer up!" she offered with a cheeky smile. Sakura eyed the bottle for a moment. She had never been a drinker, but right now, she just felt like getting wasted and passing out. She snatched the bottle and took a swig of it.

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Sasuke yawned as he felt himself coming out of sleep. He sat up, stretching. To his side, he noticed a bump under the sheets. He glanced over curiously. He squinted his eyes in disbelief, sure his throbbing hangover-headache was giving him hallucinations. Finally, he shook the woman next to him.

"What the hell are you doing in my bed?"

Sakura barely registered the quiet demand. She groaned, closing her eyes tighter against the throbbing pain in her head. "Geez, you can at least let me sleep in the bed, Ino." She mumbled something inaudible before promptly falling back asleep.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He did not know what an 'Ino' was, but he didn't appreciate her calling him names in foreign languages! He considered kicking her off the bed, but finally decided that she was okay; she didn't make weird noises or move around while she slept. He stared at her for a few more minutes, watching her sleep. Exactly what _was _she doing in bed with him? Suddenly, a thought dawned on him. He lifted the blankets and peeked under them.

He was completely naked.

He peeked under the blankets again, looking over at Sakura's body.

She was completely naked.

He slapped a hand to his forehead, understanding what they had done. Shamelessly, he looked her over for a few minutes, examining every curve on her body and admiring the firm, little butt that was in full view for him since she was laying on her stomach. He finally realized what he was doing, groaning. He yanked the blankets back over her and laid back down in the bed. He forced himself to close his eyes again.

A few hours later, Sakura woke up. She noted gratefully that her headache was a bit better. She had drunk too much with Ino. _Well, I can't avoid him anymore. I have to go home today._ She briefly considered the possibility that Sasuke had hightailed it out of the Hidden Leaf village.

She stretched a bit, feeling a body underneath her. _I'm lying across Ino? She must have gotten drunk, too, for us to both not realize we slept in the same bed!_

She finally opened her eyes, bracing herself for the painful throb in her head. "Hey—"

She stopped mid-sentence when her eyes fully focused on the body underneath her. She let out a glass-shattering scream, jumping to the other side of the bed.

Sasuke shot up in the bed, instinctively reaching for his katana underneath his pillow. "What is it?" he yelled, his eyes flying wildly around the room as he struggled to wipe the sleep out of them. "Sakura, where are they?" His eyes darted all over, looking for any intruders, but he could not find any.

He finally chanced a glance over to his bed companion only to see her fist flying toward his face. Unprepared as he was for _her _to be attacking him, her punch sent him sprawling backward to fall completely off of the bed. The blankets went with him, tangling around his body.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he bellowed, ripping the sheets apart to get them away from his body. His hand went to his cheek once his arm was free, tenderly touching the spot where she had hit him. "That _hurt_!"

"You raped me!" she shrieked. Then she realized the blankets were gone, and she was completely nude in front of him. She screamed again, scrambling for her pillow to place in front of her.

Slowly, Sasuke dropped his hand and just stared at her incredulously. "I did no such thing!"

Sakura looked around the room. This was definitely Sasuke's room in _her_ house, not Ino's. She whimpered a bit, covering her quivering mouth with a hand. "We had sex," she whispered. _I lost my virginity to such a hottie and I don't even remember it!_

"Look," he started cautiously, holding up his hands. "I don't even remember what happened. Maybe we didn't." He wished he did remember though.

"We're both naked! And if you don't remember, how do you know you didn't rape me?" she demanded.

"How do _you _know I _did_?" he shot back. Angrily, he flung the remaining blankets away from himself and stood, completely aware that he was nude in front of her and completely uncaring of it.

Sakura averted her eyes quickly, but couldn't help looking again as he was turned around, rummaging through a drawer for some clothes. _He's so perfect! _She wanted to slap herself for admiring his appearance when she was so mad at him.

Her eyes were, once again, drawn to the diagonal scar running the entire length of his back. She dully noted that it didn't look like it had come from a katana, but rather from… fingernails? That strange, black mark was showing on the left side of his neck again. She studied it carefully. She had never seen anything like it.

Sasuke turned back around, and Sakura blushed since he obviously knew she had been staring. "What are you staring at?" he asked testily.

"Your scar," she admitted truthfully. _And your ass…_

"I got it from someone who wants to kill me, and or molest me," he told her, crossing his arms over his chest. "That's all you need to know, so quit staring at it every time my back is bare. You piss me off."

Sakura did not say anything else as he brushed past her and exited the room. _Kill him and or molest him? _She was probably better off not knowing. She crawled to the end of the bed where a few of her clothes were laying; the rest were strewn about the floor haphazardly. She didn't know whether she felt like rejoicing or crying.

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It only took 9 days to update instead of 60! XD I'll try to update more, I promiseeeee! Anyway, thanks for the reviews, and thanks for reading. I hope you all like it so far!


	6. Chapter 6

Widowmaker

Chapter Six

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"You had sex with him!" Ino yelled. Sakura clamped a hand down over her friend's obnoxiously-loud mouth.

"Shut up!" she hissed. She removed her hand with a sigh. "I don't know. I thought I would have been sore or something since it was my first time. Neither of us remembers anything."

"Well, I guess you'll never know until you have sex and remember it," Ino remarked while arranging a bouquet of flowers in her family's floral shop. Sakura sighed again. This had to be the worst week of her entire life, hands down. This topped the chuunin exam when Naruto and she were twelve, and that had been hard enough as it was since there were only two people in their unit!

"Every time I try to remember, my headache throbs even more." Then Sakura glared at her friend. "Don't ever give me alcohol again, pig-face."

Ino only laughed at Sakura's insult since the pink-haired woman's pained expression was so amusing. "So, where is the hubby?"

"I don't know. He left yesterday morning, and I haven't seen him since. He ordered me to get an annulment, but how am I going to do that if we had sex?"

Ino shrugged. "Guess you'll just have to get a divorce, right?"

Sakura slammed her head down onto her arms, mumbling pitifully. When she heard Ino say, "Speak of the devil!" she looked up quickly. She stared out the window while Sasuke meandered down the street. He had bags under his reddened eyes and generally looked like hell. Sakura imagined she must look the same. She briefly wondered where he had slept last night and if he had gotten any sleep at all; she knew she hadn't. She had been up the whole night wondering where he was and considering her most recent life crisis.

Quickly, she hopped down from the stool and exited the shop. "Sasuke!" she called out. He must have recognized her voice because he picked up the pace. Her eyes narrowed, and she stomped up to him. "Where have you been?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I was looking for you."

"You were looking for me?" she stuttered in surprise. _Then why'd you try to run away, you idiot! _She thought she noticed a small blush grace his cheeks before he turned his head to the side.

"There's a grey-haired man with one eye looking for you. He told me to tell you."

Sakura was confused for a moment as she tried to think of someone who was missing an eye. She wondered if he meant Kakashi? She glanced at Sasuke again. She had thought their next encounter would be very uncomfortable, but she wasn't that embarrassed at all. He did not appear to be either, but then, he always looked the same no matter what kind of mood he was in.

When Sasuke looked over at Sakura again, he noticed she was half-way down the street already. A vein twitched in his forehead. _You left me here! _He marched up to her and shoved his hands into his pockets to walk alongside her. She was the only person he really knew in this village, and he was getting irritated with all the people staring at him.

Sasuke had not wanted to go back to Sakura's house the night before, but he did not want to stay in a hotel either. He could trust no one but himself, and he honestly didn't know how many enemies he had and in which villages they resided. So, as he always did when he was on a mission, he slept in a tree outside the village. He had hardly been able to sleep at all though for some reason.

He did not feel guilty for having sex with Sakura. He only felt guilty that he didn't remember any of it. He had wracked his brain throughout the night, but he could only remember coming back to Sakura's house after having several shots of straight vodka. Everything after that was black.

"Have you seen Kakashi-sensei, Tenten?"

Sasuke was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Sakura ask a brown-haired woman that question.

"Yeah, I have. He was out in the forest with Gai-sensei," Tenten replied, pointing behind and to the right of her.

"Thanks!" Sakura responded and waved as she started walking towards the forest. When they reached the forest, Sasuke spotted the man with one eye who had approached him and another man who looked just like that annoying bowl-head with the fuzzy eyebrows.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura hollered to get their attentions. Both dropped their fists and kunai and looked over. Kakashi waved to her and made his way over to the pair.

"Sakura, good morning," he greeted jovially.

"You were looking for me?" Sakura questioned.

"Yes, because someone else was looking for you, but it's probably not a good idea that he is here," Kakashi responded slowly, nodding his head toward Sasuke.

The Uchiha's eyes narrowed defensively. "Is there a problem with _me_?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Not in particular. It's just that—"

"You brought _him_?" a voice demanded in an annoyed tone as a man hopped down from a tree.

"Oh, dear," Kakashi murmured, deciding now was a good time to take out his Come, Come Paradise book.

Sakura's heart wrenched. She seemed to be extremely unlucky in that every time she came across Lee, she was with Sasuke. She wanted to toss Sasuke in a tree somewhere, and would have seriously considered doing it if Lee had not already seen him.

"You're always with him now, Sakura," Lee pointed out sadly. Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned to the side. How serious had she been with this loser anyway? Sasuke wanted to laugh at the fact that bowl-head looked as if he could cry, but he refrained politely.

"Yes, well, he's been…" Sakura paused thoughtfully. He's been _what? _Dealing with the Hyuugas? Not yet. Protecting her? Not really. Sleeping with her? …Maybe it was best if she didn't point that one out to Lee. So, she finished lamely, "…Yeah."

Lee glared at Sasuke then. "You make dear Sakura look bad."

That comment annoyed Sasuke just enough to actually reply to it. "I regret if you are under the impression that I give a rat's ass."

"I am challenging you, Sasuke Uchiha!" Lee shouted.

"Oh, gee, let me find a container for my joy."

Apparently, Sasuke thought, bowl-head must have been fairly angry by now because the bigger bowl-head off to the side said, "Come now, student Lee! Let us train!" Sakura's 'Kakashi-sensei' was reading some book, appearing quite disinterested in what was going on around him.

"Lee, don't!" Sakura cried, trying to stop her friend. He ignored her and started to chant, imploying several hand motions. Sasuke turned to face him completely.

"Is that how you want to play it?"

Sakura did not understand what had happened, but out of nowhere, Sasuke's black-as-sin eyes were suddenly blood-red. What astounded her even more was that Sasuke was starting to chant the exact same thing as Lee, including his hand motions. Did Sasuke already know that jutsu? She didn't see how that was possible.

"Stop copying me, you unoriginal prat!" Lee yelled, continuing his chanting.

Kakashi looked up from his Come, Come Paradise book then. He lifted a brow to see what Sasuke was doing. _An Uchiha indeed…_

When Lee released his jutsu, Sasuke did also at the same time, and they were exactly the same. However, both Lee and Sasuke dodged the attack.

"How did he do that?" Gai asked Kakashi. The grey-haired man glanced at his companion-rival.

"Look at his eyes. See anything familiar?"

Gai looked over and studied Sasuke closer. He gasped. "The Sharingan eye! _Two_!" Gai looked back at Kakashi and stared at the left side of his face, where his left eye was covered.

"There is nothing you can do that I cannot also do," Sasuke told Lee haughtily. "Stop your useless attempts."

"Copy this!" Lee yelled, running at Sasuke. He bombarded Sasuke with a series of kicks and punches, and Sasuke returned them all.

_I can memorize what he is doing, but he's faster than I am, _Sasuke realized. As time wore on, it became harder to keep up with Lee's fast movements. Sasuke was too late to stop Lee from kneeing him in the gut. He doubled over for a moment, gasping. Sasuke looked back up, his eyes narrowed heatedly. The bastard had actually hit him! _Nobody _hit him and got away with it. Not to mention, it made him look bad in front of Sakura! Now she would think he was weak and unable to fulfill his duty.

Angrily, Sasuke began to chant and then crossed his hands over, gathering chakra. A high-pitched chirping noise began to sound as electricity started to jump off of his hands. Kakashi's eyes widened; he clearly recognized this attack as one he knew himself: Chidori. Sasuke had become quite serious. While it took time to prepare Chidori, and one had to be certain it would be on target, Kakashi doubted Lee knew what it was, and it was debatable whether Lee would be able to handle it if Sasuke struck him with it.

Kakashi pocketed his Come, Come Paradise book and prepared to stop the two ninjas. However, Sakura had already stepped between them, holding her arms out.

"Stop it, you two! Please!"

"Move, please, Sakura," Lee ground out. She would not budge though.

Finally, Sasuke diminished what chakra he had gathered for Chidori. It tired him somewhat, but not nearly as much as if he would have actually used it. He wondered why he had even started; it was not an attack he used often, and certainly not when he had other options open to him.

He turned with his back to the group. He called out loudly, "Sakura!"

Sakura ran over to him worriedly. "I'm going see the Hyuugas _now. _I want to get out of here." With that, he started to walk off. Sakura followed.

"Sakura!" Lee cried. She glanced over her shoulder and gave him an apologetic look before disappearing with Sasuke.

"What does he have that I don't!" Lee yelled, curling his hands into tight fists.

"Now, now, my pupil!" Gai reprimanded loudly, patting Lee roughly on the back.

Kakashi stared at the path where his student had left from, hands shoved into his back pockets. "Hmm."

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Sakura and Sasuke trudged up the steps to her house. Sakura had told him they were making a pit-stop, so she could changes clothes before they went to the Hyuuga's main house. Now that the moment of truth had come, she was not ready to see them and actually try to talk through the problem. In fact, she had become quite comfortable with their death-threats and hateful stares. Plus, she still doubted Sasuke's ability to actually solve a problem without killing someone.

"It'll only take a minute," she told the impatient assassin as she climbed the last step. She was in the process of opening her door when she heard someone call out her name in a raspy whisper. She glanced to the side, and her eyes widened.

"Naruto!" She dropped to her knees in front of the man slumped down on her porch. "Oh, my God! What happened to you?"

The blond man was dripping blood from a wound on his forehead (his ANBU mask was slung over the side of his head, also covered in blood), and he was holding onto his right shoulder; blood had dribbled down his arm, coloring it crimson, to then form a sticky, red pool on her porch.

He cracked a small smile. "I was waiting for you, Sakura."

Sasuke knelt down next to his 'employer' (although he realized he wasn't getting paid for this one) and Naruto. While Sakura was taking off Naruto's ANBU mask and gently pushing back his hair, Sasuke started to take off Naruto's vest.

"What the hell are you doing!" Naruto demanded, his cheeks flaming red.

Sasuke paused. "I tend to my own wounds. You're bleeding to death, or are you too stupid to notice?"

When Naruto made to stand up, ready for a fight, Sakura shoved him back down.

"Naruto, why did you wait for me?" Sakura implored. "You should have gone to a medinin!"

"You're the only medinin I want to fix me up," Naruto told her sincerely. Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes. She stood up and quickly unlocked her door. When she glanced back down, she saw that Sasuke had removed Naruto's vest and undershirt, completely revealing the gaping wound on his right shoulder.

"Hurry inside," she told them.

Once Naruto was lying on the couch and Sakura had all of her medical supplies laid out on the coffee table, she set to work. She wiped, cleaned, stitched, and mended the wounds on Naruto's head and shoulder while Sasuke alternated between handing her supplies and taunting Naruto for "being weak" every time he winced. Needless to say, Sakura's best friend was ready to kill her assassin by the time she was finished fixing him up.

"Get the hell out of this house, you bastard! You don't belong here!" Naruto yelled, standing up from the couch.

Sasuke smirked, also standing. He nodded his head toward Sakura. "I'm her husband, so yes, I do."

A vein twitched in Sakura's forehead. _Now _he was her husband since it was convenient for his argument. In five minutes, he would be back to demanding an annulment. She wouldn't bother trying to explain to him that they would now need a divorce.

"The hell you are!" Naruto shot back, lunging himself at Sasuke.

Sakura screamed at the two to stop when someone knocked at the door. "Sit down and shut up! Both of you!"

She stomped over to the door in irritation, flinging it open. "What the hell do you—" She slammed the door shut again quickly. She spun around and ran back into living room. "Hide!" she shrieked.

"Why should I hide?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Not you!"

"Why should _I _hide?" Sasuke asked now.

"Because my parents are home!" Sakura replied, hopping up and down frantically.

"Sakura, why did you just slam the door in our faces?" a woman demanded, coming into the room, followed by a man. Sakura's mother directed her attention to Naruto who was standing next to her daughter. "Hello, Naruto, dear."

"Hello, Haruno-san," he replied before grabbing his shirt and yanking it back on, regardless of its bloodiness. Sakura's mother just stared at him strangely.

"Who is this?" Sakura's father asked, motioning to Sasuke who was standing off in a corner.

_That's your idea of hiding? _Sakura screamed internally. "Mom, dad, this is Sasuke Uchiha. He's, uh… my husband." Sakura was only mildly surprised when her mother fainted and her father fell down onto the couch, his eyes wide and staring at some unforeseen object in front of him.

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Thanks for all the reviews, guys! I appreciate you all reading this far. Next chapter up soon.


	7. Chapter 7

Widowmaker

Chapter Seven

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"Mom," Sakura repeated for the fourth time as she continued tapping her unconscious mother on the cheek. "Don't be so dramatic."

Finally, her mother opened her eyes and sat up. Sakura stood up and marched over to Sasuke, dragging him to a corner of the room. "Sasuke!" she snapped quietly. "Why didn't you hide when I told you to?"

Sasuke merely stared at her for a moment before replying, "Why should I have to?"

Sakura made an anguished sound of frustration. "Because! I had to tell them who you are!"

Sasuke prodded a finger into her chest. "_You _told them we're married. You didn't have to."

"Sasuke!" she cried, stamping her foot, throwing her hands up in the air.

Sasuke threw his hands up in the air, too. "Sakura!" he mimicked, stamping his own foot.

She wanted to slap that smirk right off his face. She was in the process of raising her hand, too, when Naruto walked over to them, holding onto his injured shoulder.

"Sakura, they're staring at you," he informed her, nodding his head slightly in her parents' direction. It was true. Her mother was now sitting on the couch next to her father, and they were apparently waiting for a _very_ good explanation.

She expelled a long breath and made her way back over to her parents, dragging Sasuke along with her.

"Mom, dad, as I told you, this is Sasuke, my husband."

"Are you trying to kill me?" Sakura's mother screeched. She started to pant and fanned herself wildly. Sakura rolled her eyes, for she was quite used to her mother's antics.

"Sakura… honey," her father started slowly, glancing from her to Sasuke and back again. "We were gone for barely a month. We come back. The Hyuugas are ready to kill you. You're married. What on _Earth _has been going on?"

The rosy-haired kunoichi took in a deep breath before sitting down on the chair next to the couch. She turned to face her parents.

"Here goes. Naruto loves Hinata, and Hinata loves Naruto, and I wanted them to get married, and the Hyuugas got mad, and I called for a peacemaker from the Hidden Cloud village, but got Sasuke the assassin-for-hire instead, and the Hyuugas forced us to get married, and we're going to try to talk to them."

Her mother looked like she may faint again, so Sakura's father fanned his wife as he stared at his daughter in shock, trying to digest what she had blurted out so quickly.

"Okay," he began, holding up his free hand. "Let me see if I have this right. You were _meddling **again **_and the Hyuugas didn't like it." At his daughter's depressed nod, he continued, "You tried to get someone from the Hidden Cloud village to smooth things over with the Hyuuga clan, but he was—what? Busy?"

"Yes," Sakura replied quietly. "Apparently so, because Sasuke here showed up at the door instead."

Her father eyed Sasuke as he asked, "And did I hear correctly that Sasuke is an _assassin-for-hire_?"

Sakura inched back a bit. "Yes."

Her mother shrieked, "You married an assassin?"

"Shut up, mom!" Sakura yelled back, throwing polite behavior to the wind. "The Hyuugas made us get married! They knew the name Sasuke Uchiha, and they knew—"

"Sasuke _Uchiha_?" her father demanded, his eyes widening tenfold as he now stared at the man in black appraisingly. Sasuke frowned, looking away. It was times like these he wished he could change his name.

"—and they knew what he did for a living," Sakura continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "They thought I hired him to kill them! I had to make up something, so I told them he was my fiancé, and… well, they decided to play a practical joke…"

Sakura's father jumped up from the couch then. "How dare them?" he shouted. "I don't care what you did; they had no right to do such a thing! I am going over there right now."

"That's exactly what I said!" Naruto agreed, jumping into the conversation. He marched over to the door, followed closely by Sakura's father.

"Hey!" Sakura yelled. "Wait a minute!" She spun around for assistance from her husband. "Sasuke—" Her eyes darted around the room. "Where did he go?" She ran into the kitchen and looked out the window. Sasuke was half-way down the street. He had snuck out the back door! "Damn him!"

She flung open the door and ran down the steps. "Sasuke!" He slowed his pace enough for her to catch up to him. Naruto and her parents followed after her.

"Are you all done bickering? I'm getting this over with," he told her curtly. She placed a hand on his elbow, stopping him.

"You aren't going to kill anyone, are you?" she asked desperately. _Although I wouldn't mind you kill that asshole, Neji…_

Sasuke turned and completely faced her then, gripping her by the shoulders. "Would you stop asking me that?" he snapped in irritation.

"Not until you tell me you won't!"

Sasuke sighed, rubbing his face. "Fine, Sakura, if it will shut you up, I won't kill anyone. Does that make you happy?"

"Yes," she replied with a broad smile.

"Good," he grumbled and began walking again.

Sakura's mother crossed her arms over her chest as she walked behind her daughter and Sasuke a few feet. "I want to know what's with all the touching and first-name-calling if they were _forced _to get married!"

Naruto raised both eyebrows, walking with his arms behind his head. "I wonder."

Sakura's mother gasped and opened her mouth to say something else, but her husband silenced her with a hand against her lips. He turned to the blond man walking next to them. "Naruto, were you on a mission while all this was going on or something?"

Naruto looked guilty then. "I was on a mission, but not when she was getting married and annoying the Hyuugas."

"Why didn't you stop her then?" her father implored. "You've always protected my daughter."

Naruto watched his best friend and Sasuke Uchiha make their way towards the Hyuuga clan's main house. It was convenient that Neji now lived in the main house because Naruto wanted to kill him for all the trouble the Hyuuga prodigy had put Sakura and himself through.

"I'm sorry, sir. I've had a lot on my mind, too!" Naruto defended, thinking of Hinata. But, it was true; he should have been watching after Sakura better. Their bond was beyond friendship. They were brother and sister, if not by blood. Sakura had always been the brain of their employs when they were younger, and he had been the brawn. It was always harder on them in everything they did because they had only each other to rely on instead of also a third member—something unprecedented in the Hidden Leaf village's history. Luckily, they had had one of the best jounin instructors: Kakashi Hatake.

"I know; forgive me. I'm just shocked at what all has happened," Sakura's father apologized quietly. They continued on in silence.

A few minutes later found the group standing in front of the Hyuuga main house.

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Okay, guys, I am totally stuck and I have been since… forever. So, even though this is extremely short, I wanted to get it posted, so you guys would have at least _something _to read. I'll try to pick myself up soon…


	8. Chapter 8

Widowmaker

Chapter Eight

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A/N: Someone asked how many chapters I thought this story would have. …I don't know. When I first started writing this, I was loosely basing it off of the book _Angel_, and I figured it would have about 10 – 13 chapters. Now, I have other ideas—unrelated to "Angel"--developing in this fragmented little brain of mine which would put the storyline way past 3 or 4 more chapters. But, we'll just see how it goes. I need to get my crap together and start writing!

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Sasuke tried not to pay attention to the teenaged girl staring him down. Her pupil-less eyes were unrelenting; she didn't even blink. Instead, he stared out the window which was positioned right above and in front of his kneeling position at the table with Sakura, "the parentals," "dumbass," "shy girl," and "stupid teenager." Thankfully, "arrogant bastard" was no where to be found.

"Hanabi, you don't have to wait around…" Hinata said quietly, hoping to get the hint across to her younger sister. The younger Hyuuga continued to glare at Sasuke. He continued to ignore her.

"Father won't be pleased."

Sakura glanced over at Hanabi then. Sasuke noticed her opening her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by her own father.

"Is _Hyuuga _coming or what?" Sakura's dad demanded, purposely leaving off the "-san" suffix.

Sasuke smirked. The old man wasn't so bad. Just then, Hiashi entered the room, followed by Neji and one other Hyuuga—a man about Neji's age.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Hiashi asked of no one in particular, his tone laced with sarcasm. Sasuke stared at Naruto pointedly, silently saying, _Well? Say something, idiot._

"Well, Hyuuga-san," Sakura started nervously, "I just wanted to show you that my parents are back! I won't be bothering you anymore!" She cleared her throat and stood quickly. "Okay, we'll be going now."

"The hell we will." Sasuke looked over at Sakura's father now, his interest peaking a bit at the older man's declaration. "Sit down, Sakura."

"Dad…" Finally, Sakura sighed and sat down. Her father pushed himself to his feet and stared down Hiashi Hyuuga for a few moments.

"What the _hell _do you think you're doing, forcing my daughter to get married?"

Hiashi smiled cruelly. "She claimed she was engaged to the assassin. I was only supporting their love."

"Don't give me that!" Sakura's father spat.

"It's true," Neji added boldly.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled. "What are you—his _pet? _Ugly bastard, stay out of our business!"

Sasuke saw Sakura rubbing her forehead, mumbling something inaudible into her hand. "Don't blame his appearance on him," Sasuke told Naruto calmly.

"I don't," the blond ninja continued viciously, his blue eyes freezing over like ice. "I blame his father, the banshee, and the bartender."

Sakura laughed. She truly couldn't help it although she covered her mouth quickly to stifle it. Beside her, Sasuke was shaking his head while smirking.

Neji's back stiffened considerably at Naruto's insult and Sasuke's assistance in that insult. The Hyuuga opened his mouth to spit out a retort, but was stopped by Hiashi's silent command: holding up a hand.

"Listen," he boomed, directing his statement at Sakura's father. "We will forget all of this ever happened if you keep your daughter out of our business and the fox demon stays away from the heir to the Hyuuga clan."

Naruto jumped up furiously. "You can't control our lives! We love each other! Right, Hinata?"

Everyone looked expectantly at the shy girl. She was blushing slightly from Naruto's declaration, and pointing her fingers together, but she did not speak.

"Right, Hinata?" Naruto repeated.

"Hinata," Sakura whispered.

Hiashi made a sound of disgust and closed his eyes. "That one has no will of her own."

"Hinata…" Naruto trailed off in hurt. When the girl still stared down, saying nothing, Naruto spun on his heel and made his way toward the door.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Sakura had not informed him that his efforts would be in vain. She had not warned him that if he spoke with the Hyuugas, no support would be offered by the woman with the problem. His lip curled in a sneer. How disgusting this Hinata was turning out to be.

"Sakura, I guess it is a good thing I'm not getting paid for this job since I can't seem to help," Sasuke said; however, he did not remove his eyes from Hinata at all during the declaration. "I doubt anyone could help though. The girl is nothing but a weakling." He also stood, shoving his hands in his pockets, and met Naruto at the door.

"You really are an idiot to choose such a woman."

Still kneeling at the table, Sakura was apologizing profusely to Hinata for Sasuke's cruel speech. Hinata wasn't listening though. She was staring at Sasuke in disbelief.

"Hinata?"

The Hyuuga woman jumped a little bit at Sakura's voice as if hearing it for the first time. She stood from the table and clenched her hands at her side.

"Father! I… I… We…"

Naruto paused at the door, his hand on the frame, as he looked over his shoulder at the woman he loved. Her father was kneeling stoically, and Hinata's confidence was quickly fading.

Sakura saw her friend's trouble and stood up next to her, taking her in hand. Hinata looked surprised for a moment before the look of confidence came over her features again. Sasuke would have smiled if that had been in his character; Sakura was still helping, even in the face of those who had threatened her very life.

"Father, I do love Naruto-kun. Sakura-san was only trying to help because she knew how we felt. Please don't be angry with her…"

"Hinata!" Hiashi bellowed, obviously shocked that his meekly daughter had gone against him.

"Hmph." Neji turned and left the room. At witnessing this, some of the fire went out of Hiashi Hyuuga's eyes. He turned to face his daughter again. He sighed in a resigned manner.

"You may wed him if that is your wish, Hinata."

Naruto whooped happily and ran over to Hinata, sweeping her up in his arms and spinning her around. His blue eyes sparkled with joy. Hinata giggled, blushing shyly.

"Hinata, we can get married!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yes, Naruto-kun!"

Sakura had made her way over to the door was Sasuke was. She was sniffling, and crying "aww" every five seconds.

"Gag me," Sasuke muttered. He yelped in surprise when Sakura elbowed him in the side. He stared down at her with a small smile, but she was too busy crying in happiness over Naruto and Hinata to notice.

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Sasuke was resting in the guest room across the hall. In Sakura's bedroom, her mother was situated at the end of the bed with Sakura next to her.

"Sakura, now that this crisis is over, we have to start thinking about the divorce between you and that… that…"

"Sasuke, mother. His name is Sasuke," Sakura ground out in annoyance.

"Yes, yes," her mother responded impatiently.

"Quit thinking so lowly of him. He really helped me out! You don't even know him!" Sakura shouted.

"Sakura..." her mother started, astonished by her daughter's yelling. She knew she would get nothing accomplished with her daughter in this frame of mind. "You're tired. We'll talk more later."

An hour after her mother left, Sakura was still awake in bed. She couldn't find peace which surprised her. She was no longer on bad terms with the Hyuugas—she hoped—so she should be ecstatic. Yet, she felt like an extremely heavy stone was sitting on her chest, and she couldn't push it off.

"_You are really annoying." _ Sakura frowned. She wondered if Sasuke still thought she was annoying. Probably more so now than he had before.

"_They really hate you."_ What a bastard! Sakura's frown deepened. Sasuke had no problem speaking his mind.

Then she remembered the day when Sasuke had entertained Kashin, the boy from the academy. She smiled, picturing Kashin's happy face.

"_I lost my memory when I was young." _ Sakura's frown returned, sadder than before.

She sat up in bed and glanced at the clock. 10:30pm. She wondered if Sasuke was still awake and wouldn't mind some company. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stepped into her slippers. She padded over to the door and opened it a crack, looking out and down the hall. She did not hear or see anyone.

She took the few steps across the hall and twisted the knob to open the guest room door. "Sasuke?" she whispered, poking her head in.

"I… I didn't!" she heard Sasuke whimper. "I didn't kill them! I'll… I'll… kill you…"

Sakura stepped in the room all the way and closed the door behind her. She quickly approached the bed and peered down at Sasuke. Sweat covered his face and bare chest. His features were twisted into a look of agony. The curtains on the window were drawn back, letting in the pale moonlight. It illuminated his features, turning his hair dark blue and causing his skin to take on an ethereal glow.

"I'll get… stronger…"

"Sasuke?" Sakura repeated, a little louder. She wanted desperately to bring him away from the lonely pain which was consuming him in his sleep. It seemed rather unfair to her; he couldn't fight it off in his sleep.

The assassin sucked in a breath of air so harshly that it made him choke. He coughed violently as he awoke, his eyes flying all around the room as he reached for his sword.

"It's me!" Sakura exclaimed, stilling his hand with her own. "Are you all right? I heard you having a nightmare and came in here." It was only partially a lie. She had, indeed, heard him having a nightmare. She just wouldn't tell him it was not until after she had already come in.

"He looked just like me!" Sasuke breathed, his eyes wide.

"Who?" Sakura asked in a soothing voice.

"Him! _Him!"_ Sasuke shrieked. Suddenly, he seemed to remember himself, and he shrunk back into the bed. "Nothing. It's nothing." He glanced up at her, wiping the sweat from his brow. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"About today," she started slowly. "I just want to say thanks. You really helped me out."

"Just doing my job," he replied curtly. He was staring pointedly at his hand which was still being held by Sakura's. She noticed his stare and jerked her hand away as if his had been on fire.

"S-So, does that mean you'll be leaving soon?" she wondered, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Tomorrow," he replied, leaning toward her a bit.

"Tomorrow?" she echoed, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

His stare turned to one of curiosity. "Yes… why?"

"No reason!"

Sasuke's depthless onyx orbs drove into Sakura's emerald ones for what seemed like minutes of uncomfortable silence. Finally, she cleared her throat and stood from her place where she had been sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Well, I should be getting back to bed then." She forced a smile before turning away and walking toward the door.

"Sakura," he called out suddenly.

"Yes?" she replied breathlessly, whirling around.

"Would… Nothing. Goodnight." He sank back into the bed, seemingly disappointed about something. Sakura struggled to hide her own disappointment.

"Goodnight."

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He licked his lips. He wanted to touch him so badly. He could nearly taste the young man's skin just as he had a few years prior. He had hounded the young man for several years, waiting for the opportune time.

He licked his lips again. His blood had been so delicious. It was like sipping mango nectar. He had been beyond furious when his prey had escaped him. It had been four long years.

"Sasuke, I'm coming for you."


	9. Chapter 9

Widowmaker

Chapter Nine

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A/N: One-hundred thousand yen is roughly $875 US dollars. Seventeen-million yen is roughly $152,000 US dollars.

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Breakfast in the Haruno household the next morning was quiet, to say the least. To say the most, one would say the atmosphere was choking. However, Sakura had to give Sasuke credit; he was clearly doing his best to stay civil with her mother. It was obvious though that his patience was wearing thin.

"So, do you just kill people or what?" Sakura's mother asked, feigning interest. Sasuke didn't look up from his meal. Sakura wondered if he even heard the question until she saw his hand slightly tighten around his chopsticks. She didn't think he was going to answer for a few moments.

Then, finally, "Yep."

Sakura's mother sniffed and took another bite of her breakfast.

On the other hand, Sakura's father seemed to be taking a liking to Sasuke now that he was getting used to him. Good old dad had listened to his wife's theatrics the night before and had come to breakfast with a haughty attitude to match her own. He had been fully prepared to hate Sasuke. He and his wife had every intention of kicking Sasuke out of the house within the hour with a parting statement of "We'll send you the divorce papers!"

Then, Sasuke had started to grow on Sakura's father once he actually got to know the younger assassin. The Uchiha was quiet, but respectful. To add to Sasuke's politeness, good old dad suddenly seemed to remember how Sasuke had gotten his daughter out of a jam, and he was left wondering why he had even gotten worked up along with his wife. They owed gratitude to this man, not maliciousness.

"How much do you make on a… job?" Sakura's father asked, searching for the right word to make it sound less like murder. "A hundred thousand yen?"

Sasuke actually paid his hostess's father the respect of looking at him when he spoke—something the Uchiha man wasn't too apt to give the mother who was glaring him down.

"Yes, I do make about a hundred thousand. An hour."

Sakura spit up some of her tea. "An _hour_!"

Sasuke turned slightly in his chair to face her. "Yes," he confirmed calmly. "After all, it is usually governments or powerful organizations that hire me."

Sakura silently did the math in her head. Sasuke had been staying with her for about a week. That would be twenty-four hours times seven days. One-hundred sixty-eight hours. She looked up at the ceiling as she mentally calculated, sipping her tea. Had he been paid for his job in helping Sakura, he would have made almost seventeen-million yen. …_Seventeen-million yen! _Sakura spit up her tea again.

Sasuke glanced over at her again and mouthed, "What the hell's your problem?"

Sakura didn't notice. Seventeen-million yen! Maybe he only made that much for assassinations. She couldn't fathom paying him that much for merely protecting her from the Hyuugas and provoking Hinata into standing up for herself.

The rosy-haired kunoichi eyed Sasuke with curiosity. He must be filthy rich, but what did he do with all of his money?

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An hour later, Sakura went up to her bedroom to change out of her pajamas and into her normal clothing of red top, white skirt with black shorts underneath. After changing, she exited her room and heard a crash from inside the guest room across the hall.

Worriedly, she crossed the hall and knocked on the door. "Are you all right?"

After a few seconds, there was still no reply. Throwing privacy out the window, she opened the door and stepped inside. It was dark inside the room. It was already a rainy day outside, and the fact that the blinds were closed on the window shut out any possible outside light. "Sasuke? I heard a crash."

After surveying the room, she spotted him on the floor next to the bed. She made her way over to him and squatted down next to him. He was picking up pieces of glass. Sakura spotted a picture frame on the floor next to him, and she picked it up.

Smiling, she said, "We were just twelve here." It was a photo of Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto from their first year as a genin team. Kakashi had an arm around each of them while Sakura waved and Naruto stared at her with a goofy look on his face. He had had a crush on her up until they were about sixteen. The photo brought back such good memories that Sakura had made copies of it for nearly every room in the house.

"Sorry," Sasuke mumbled. "I bumped it."

Sakura shrugged. "It's no big deal. I'll just get a new frame." Then she noticed crimson liquid contrasting highly against the pale skin of his hand.

"You're bleeding!" she exclaimed.

"Nice observation, airhead."

She made an offended sound and shoved him. That was the second time he had called her an airhead since she had met him. She longed to boast about how she graduated top of the class at the academy, but figured such bragging would be petty.

"Come into the bathroom," she told him, standing up.

Sasuke followed Sakura out of the room and down the hall to the next door. Once in the bathroom, Sakura started to wipe his hand with a damp towel.

"It's just a scratch," he protested quietly.

"I'm a medinin. It's my job."

After Sakura was finished cleaning up the cut on Sasuke's palm, she looked up at his face and gasped. His face was mere inches from hers, and his sinful eyes were focused intently on her lighter ones.

"Thanks," he said in a throaty voice.

Sakura wanted to lean back from him, but she was already up against the wall. _He's so close. I could hug him, or kiss him, or…! _She gulped and focused on a spot below his face. He was only wearing loose, black pants and a black tank top, so her eyes were drawn to the strange black mark on the left side of his neck.

"Where did you get that mark from?" she asked, shifting her gaze back up to his face.

Sasuke lifted a hand to finger the mark. He had never told anyone what it was in all of the four years he had it. He didn't know why, but he wanted to tell her.

"It's a curse mark."

"Oh, I see," Sakura replied, nodding her head. Then she paused. "Wait, come again? A _curse mark?"_

The assassin gazed into her wide eyes, and he wondered if he should have kept quiet. Slowly, he asked, "Does that scare you?" He leaned toward her more, placing a hand on the wall next to her shoulder.

She faltered for a moment before finally shaking her head. "No, you don't frighten me anymore. But," she paused, "what does a curse mark do?"

"Anytime I try to use a lot of chakra, the curse mark takes over me and I lose control. My sensei back in Cloud sealed it, but I still have to be cautious."

"Lose control?"

He nodded with a strange smile coming over his features. He lifted the other hand at his side and twirled a strand of her hair around it. Her breathing sped up. "Yes," he drawled. "You never know who I might hurt." He released her hair to cup her chin.

_This is it! He'll kiss me for sure this time! _Ignoring her flipflopping stomach, Sakura's eyes fluttered closed and she puckered up her lips slightly. After a moment, she heard soft chuckling. Her eyes slowly opened again.

Sasuke's eyes were full of humor and he was shaking his head as he laughed quietly. "You amuse me." He released her chin and lowered his other hand from the wall back to his side. He stepped away from her and faced the bathroom mirror.

Sakura looked confused. "Amuse you?"

Sasuke nodded. "You really wanted me to kiss you that time, didn't you?"

The kunoichi's eyes widened in realization, and she cried out quietly in offense. She quickly averted her eyes to try to hide the hurt in them. "You are a horrible person to play with me like that."

"Horrible, am I?" he asked in an amused tone.

Angrily, her eyes darted back to his face and she nodded fiercely. "Yes! You think you're some gift to women or something? You disgust me!"

She turned to leave the bathroom, but he caught her by the arm and pulled her back and into his chest. He bent his head to her neck, inhaling the scent of her. "Mmm," he murmured. "You smell like honey."

She pushed away from him and slapped him across the face. His hand rose to his face. It did not hurt as much as her punch had a few days before, but he wondered if he had gone too far. She was clearly upset by his little "game."

"I'm not some joke," she hissed quietly before leaving the bathroom.

Sasuke stared at the wall she had been pressed up against for a few minutes before smirking. How fun it was to rile her up. It was too bad he was getting ready to leave the village. He wouldn't mind playing with her for a little while longer.

She was the only person who made him want to smile. He wasn't bored when she was around. Oh well. He figured that all interesting things must come to an end.

He left the bathroom to go retrieve his katana from the guest room. After tying the sword to his back, he searched the room for pen and paper. He walked over to the bedside table and opened the drawer. There was a small notepad and pencil in it, so he pulled them out and quickly jotted down a note.

_Send the papers to the Hidden Cloud village at 4 Pine St and I'll send them back, signed._

He figured she would know he was talking about annulment papers. Then he realized that they would need divorce papers now instead. He shrugged. It didn't make any difference to him.

He wasn't sure when he was going back to the old man's house, but he would pick up the divorce papers when he did. He would just have to make sure he didn't wait several months.

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Sakura screamed inwardly. He was so rude! How dare he play with her like a toy? He thought it was funny to provoke her like that? She was so embarrassed that she had been welcoming a kiss from him when he wasn't even serious. What did he care anyway about a silly kiss? He had already gotten the whole package, even if he didn't remember. Well, good riddance to him! If she never saw his smirking face again, it would only be too soon.

She couldn't believe she had ever felt sorry for him. He was a manipulative jerk who delighted in making her squirm. She should have been suspicious when he kept getting closer to her in the bathroom. He had not shown any sexual interest in her (while sober); why would that change all of a sudden?

"Bastard!" she shrieked, stamping her foot. She decided to go see Ino. She knew Sasuke would be leaving anytime, and she didn't want to take a chance of seeing him on the streets.

Sakura glanced around to see how close she was to Ino's house. She didn't recognize the street she was on. In fact, it was more like an alleyway since it dead-ended a little ways up. She sighed and turned around to go back out the alleyway.

"All alone, are we?" a voice asked. Sakura whirled around to see a grey-haired man smiling at her. Within a blink, he had appeared behind her, bestowing a blow to her neck and knocking her out.

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"Are you certain this is the one?"

"Yes. I saw her with him."

"And what make you think her fate matters to him?"

"Well, they were getting married when I saw them."

"How can that be? Our Sasuke? Married?"

Sakura opened her eyes, rubbing her head which was throbbing in pain. She sat up quickly when she saw two men sitting across from her, the one closest to her being the one who appeared before her in the alleyway.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

The grey-haired man didn't acknowledge her, but the man next to him smiled at Sakura. The smile sent shivers down her spine.

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Yes, yes, I'm a slow-poke. Review and let me know I'm cared about! XD


	10. Chapter 10

Widowmaker

Chapter Ten

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A/N: Been two months. Sorry. XD And I haven't even been working on this, shame on me. I wrote this whole chapter in one sitting.

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"You kidnapped me…!" Sakura trailed off, her eyes glancing frantically around the room she was in. If she had to wager, she'd say she was in a cave of some sort. She was struggling to her feet from her place on the dirty ground when the grey-haired man came closer to her and poked her a few times. His glasses lent him an innocent boy look.

"May I have her, Orochimaru-sama? I promise I'll regenerate any lost limbs…"

Screw the innocent boy look. _Hey, he kidnapped you, didn't he!_

Her kidnapper's earnest plea caused Sakura to take a few steps backward. Her eyes were wide with an exhausting mix of fright, anger, disgust, and curiosity as they took turns focusing on 'Orochimaru-sama' and the grey-haired man.

'Orochimaru-sama'—she guessed—was a man with too much eye makeup on and silky, feminine hair. The purple bow-type accessory wrapped around his waist wasn't helping his macho image any either, she decided. He was smiling at her, albeit a somewhat creepy smile that gave her the shivers. He really didn't appear to be all that bad.

She mentally berated herself. _Just look at Sasuke! He's polite to your family, terribly handsome, and minds his own business. …And he probably can't even remember how many people he's killed. Looks are deceiving, Sakura!_

"No, Kabuto. I have something else in mind to keep us entertained while we wait for our dear friend to arrive," Orochimaru responded. Kabuto was visibly disappointed, but nodded and backed away from what he had hoped would be his newest toy.

Sakura was about to unleash about fifty questions onto her captors when a hissing at her back stilled her tongue. The hairs standing up on her neck alerted her to another danger at her back. She slowly turned around. Staring straight ahead only showed a scaly body, so her eyes traveled up, up, and up until they finally locked with a much larger pair of golden orbs. The gigantic snake which was looming over her let out another soft hiss.

Sakura had to remember to breathe. "Oh, my God…"

Orochimaru's smile widened. "God's busy right now. May my pet help you instead?"

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Sasuke slurped up his ramen, sighing in pleasure at his stomach's fulfillment. He pushed his empty bowl forward on the counter, placing money under it, and was about to leave when Sakura's 'Kakashi-sensei' sat down on the seat next to his.

"Hello, Sasuke," he greeted cheerfully.

"Hello," Sasuke returned quietly, wondering why Sakura's teacher was speaking to him. When the older man smiled, he seemed familiar somehow. Sasuke could not think of a time he had met him though.

"You don't remember me, do you?" Kakashi asked, still smiling.

Sasuke shrugged. "Sure, I do. You're Sakura's 'Kakashi-sensei.'"

Kakashi looked forward. "Ah… yes, that's right. Well, I share her now with Tsunade-sama."

_Share her? _Sasuke briefly thought what an odd man Kakashi was.

"Back then," Kakashi started, "you were going to use an attack called Chidori, weren't you?"

Sasuke, of course, knew what 'back then' he referred to—when he was challenged by Rock Lee over Sakura. What he didn't know was how Kakashi knew what that attack was when he had not followed through with it completely. He voiced his curiosity.

"Well, I know of the Chidori." Kakashi's answer was simply pointing out the obvious in Sasuke's opinion. Obviously, he knew of the Chidori or else how would he be able to name it? Sasuke carefully kept his annoyance from showing, however. It wouldn't do to seem as if he truly wanted to know how Kakashi knew. It was most likely the gossip that seemed to follow him everywhere.

"Sakura has always been something of a meddler, but she has a big heart," Kakashi continued.

"Yes…" Sasuke trailed off. He truly wasn't up for conversation, but it would be rude to walk away from Kakashi.

"She was never that strong when it was just us three—her, Naruto, and me. Still, she did her best." The older man took on a pained expression then. "Tsunade-sama really helped her blossom, something I couldn't do as well." He sighed exaggeratedly then, and Sasuke wondered how serious he was being.

Kakashi looked back at Sasuke then with another mask-like smile. "Are you about to head back to her house?"

Sasuke could not even begin to imagine why, but he suddenly felt guilty. "Well, actually…"

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried, running up to him at the ramen stand, then paused as he spotted Sasuke next to him. He nodded briefly, glad that he was there also, then his frantic glance darted back to Kakashi. "It's Sakura! She's gone, and her mom found this on their doorstep!" Then, Naruto shoved a note into Kakashi's hand.

Sasuke tensed up upon hearing that Sakura was missing. Could it be the Hyuuga clan? Everything had seemed to be smoothed over with them though. Kakashi's face took on a confused expression as he quickly read the two sentences on the note.

"I don't understand what this means."

"Neither do we," Naruto replied in dismay. "I was hoping you would."

Kakashi turned to Sasuke and handed him the note, his mouth set in a grim line. Sasuke took it from the man's hand and read it aloud. "You know where to find me, my favorite pet. I wonder how those rosy pink locks would look decorating my bedposts."

No sooner was he done reading it then the note immediately burned up. At the very same time, Sasuke cried out in pain and fell off his seat to the ground, clutching at his curse mark.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, kneeling down next to him.

Sasuke shrugged him off, sitting up. His eyes narrowed dangerously and he clenched his hands into fists. If Kakashi could compare him to any one thing at that moment, it would be to a mother black hawk whose hatchlings had been preyed upon by a larger foe. He was absolutely livid.

"Orochimaru…"

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Sakura's breath rasped in her throat as she hid behind a pillar. She dared not lean around to see if the snake was still on her trail. That horrible monster Orochimaru had been sicing his 'pet' on her for the past two hours.

The snake had yet to do her any harm, but Sakura wasn't going to take any chances that each time it lunged at her, it might actually get her one time.

"What the hell is this? What are you doing this for!" she screamed in order for her voice to carry all the way to where Orochimaru was calmly perched on a rock. His assistant Kabuto had disappeared a half hour or so ago.

"I'll be bored otherwise," Orochimaru replied.

"No, I meant why are you keeping me here?" Sakura yelled back, annoyed. She could hear the snake hissing as it discovered her location, so she held her breath while she waited for his response.

"To lure my dear Sasuke here."

Before Sakura could ask her next question, Kabuto suddenly appeared right in front of her. He was holding some strange sticks in his hands which he then proceeded to poke her with.

The kunoichi reared back her fist and sent it flying into Kabuto's face, knocking him flat on his behind. He looked up at her in shock, and then he smiled. "You are not as weak as we thought!"

"Hah!" Sakura exclaimed. "Weak would be an insult to Tsunade-sama's teachings!"

"Back down, my pet," Orochimaru suddenly told his snake, waving it off, then stood from his rock. He approached the pillar where Sakura was standing over Kabuto, who was picking up his glasses which had been knocked off, and leaned against it. "Tsunade-sama, you say? She was your dear teacher?"

Sakura straightened her back and sniffed. "Yes."

"And how is our lovely Tsunade-sama doing? It's been years since I was on the genin team with her."

Sakura's emerald orbs widened. "You're… the third member of the Golden Trio? Tsunade, Jiraiya, and _you?" _

Orochimaru only smiled at her. Sakura's mouth set in a thin line.

"If… If you think keeping me here will bring Sasuke, you're wrong! He wouldn't ever come for me because he doesn't care." Sakura looked down as she finished. Saying out loud that he didn't care about her, even if she already knew it was true, only hurt more. She wanted him to care.

"You married him though," Kabuto spoke up.

Sakura sighed in exasperation. "We were _forced _to get married! Sasuke never wanted it!"

Orochimaru stared off at the entrance of the cave and shook his head. "Sasuke cannot be forced to do something like that." He turned his snake-like eyes back on Sakura's astonished features. "He will definitely come."

Sakura turned away from her two captors then. He was right. Sasuke could have killed the Hyuugas before they forced him into marriage, but he had gone along with it. Sakura couldn't contain the sudden feeling of happiness that bubbled up in her chest. Could it be possible that Sasuke cared?

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A half-hour after Sasuke had 'deciphered' Orochimaru's note, he was gathered in the office of the Hokage along with Kakashi, Naruto, Lee (to his displeasure), Neji (to his extreme displeasure), and one other man. There was also a lady standing directly at Tsunade's side, ready to take orders.

Sasuke had briefly informed Kakashi and Naruto at the ramen stand of his connection with Sakura's kidnapper. After it had been made clear that it was Sasuke the kidnapper wanted, the three had quickly made their way to the Hokage's office. Sasuke was mildly surprised to find out that Orochimaru was an old teammate of the current Hokage.

"Kakashi, you will lead these five on an ANBU mission to find Sakura." Tsunade leaned over her desk then. "Bring her back!"

Kakashi nodded seriously. Everyone knew that Sakura held a special place in Tsunade-sama's heart.

Tsunade turned a sharp glare on Sasuke then. "You. Why aren't you in ANBU wear?"

Sasuke scoffed. "Please. I don't wear that crap." He was wearing black pants like the ANBUs', a black tanktop, black boots, black wristbands, and a black scarf around his neck that hang to his knees and could be used to cover his face if need be. What the hell was wrong with his clothing?

Tsunade gritted her teeth. "Fine." Her attention re-directed to everyone present. "Kakashi, Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, Lee, …Sasuke."

"Success," they all replied immediately except Sasuke, who mumbled a "whatever."

He didn't care about their little mission. He would have been gone thirty minutes ago to find Sakura if it weren't for Kakashi and Naruto insisting that they report to Tsunade and go as a unit.

Sakura may have been a pain in his backside for all of her meddling, but there was absolutely no way he would leave her in Orochimaru's hands. She was his wife, after all, at least for the time-being. And, it wasn't like she meant nothing to him. She still stuck to the back of his mind whenever he was doing something or thinking about something else. That was another reason that he would have much rather left Konoha. He needed to get away from her before she bewitched him even more. Nevertheless, that snake-like man wanted Sasuke. And it was Sasuke he was going to get.

The five men in ANBU uniforms donned their masks immediately. Sasuke's eyes roved over the beaver, hawk, owl, and fox before landing on the dog mask which Kakashi had just donned.

"Inu-sensei!" Sasuke exclaimed before he could stop himself. He couldn't see it, but a small smile graced Kakashi's features behind his mask.

"Ah, so you _do _remember," the man behind the dog mask replied with humor in his voice.

Sasuke only allowed his surprise to last a moment before he remembered that Sakura had been kidnapped by his nemesis. Within another blink of the eye, the six men had disappeared from Tsunade's sight to retrieve Sakura and "eliminate the enemy of Konoha."

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A/N: Beaver (picked because it's proud and noble) is Lee; Hawk is Neji; Owl is Shikamaru; Fox (duh) is Naruto; Dog isKakashi. Okay, so I had to improvise on everyone except Kakashi. Shut up; leave me alone! XD Naruto's was obvious though.

Inu means dog.

**MANGA SPOILER**

You guys have no idea how happy I am to see that Sasuke now has a sword since I had already given him one. XD Too bad we didn't get to see him really use it yet.

…I don't care what anyone says; Sasuke is HOT in part two! (The purple gaybow I could do without, but at least he's baring his chest for us fangirls. XD)


	11. Chapter 11

Widowmaker

Chapter Eleven

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A/N: Not very consistent with update times, am I? XD Two months… one week… By the way, if any of you remember, I mentioned an idea which I had, completely unrelated to Angel, the book by Johanna Lindsey this story is supposed to be based loosely off of. I have decided to definitely go with this idea. So, instead of there only being one or two more chapters, there'll probably be about ten more.

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Neji silently stoked the fire that Sasuke had lit for the ANBU team (with his mouth, no less) as he watched the dark assassin converse quietly with Kakashi. The noisy wind which blew his silky strands into disarray kept him from clearly hearing the words of the two. He clucked his tongue in annoyance as the wind started to blow the fire out, and he stoked it more.

Lee chewed on an apple whilst sitting on the lowest branch of the very tree he took it from. Beneath him, that cold-hearted bastard who had stolen the woman he loved was talking with Kakashi. He heard soft phrases such as "long time" and "back then" which gave him great curiosity as to what the pair's connection was.

Shikamaru was mapping out possible scenarios to enter the cave they were currently a day's travel away from. While they were tree-hopping, Sasuke had informed them that he did, indeed, know where to find this "Orochimaru." It was apparently a cave which only had one opening. Therein lie the problem, in Shikamaru's opinion. He only had one option to get into the cave. From the entrance was a long corridor which opened into the center-most part of the cave. Linked from the center of the cave was a few more corridors which led to other rooms. When Shikamaru had questioned Sasuke on how he knew the inner workings of Orochimaru's cave, the assassin had said nothing.

Naruto was currently asleep next to the fire Neji was still stoking in annoyance (and was about to say "screw it" and let it go out; if the cold of death befall Naruto, so be it). Normally, he would be on the alert on his ANBU missions, but he felt considerably more at ease with Kakashi there. Plus, since he was the only one sleeping at this time--as they were taking turns sleeping for a few hours--he had every faith that at least one of the five others would awaken him if something happened.

"Sometimes you would come, sometimes you wouldn't," Sasuke was saying in a low voice as he fingered his throbbing curse mark. It had been hurting ever since he had read Orochimaru's kidnapping letter. "But, I waited for you every day during that month."

"I'm touched," Kakashi replied in good humor.

Sasuke shrugged, staring at the older man's face. When he was merelyeleven years old, he had only ever seen Kakashi as his "Inu-sensei" with the dog mask. He had not known what ANBU was at that time, so he had just thought Inu-sensei was a strange man who liked to wear a mask.

When Sasuke had seen Kakashi in the Hidden Leaf village, he had always had his forehead protector pulled over his left eye. Sasuke thought it was some sort of weird fashion statement.

Now, Sasuke saw him with no forehead protector, and his mask was resting on the side of his head, so Sasuke realized the crooked forehead protector wasn't a fashion statement. Rather, it hid a wicked scar down Kakashi's left eye. Kakashi kept the eye closed; Sasuke wondered if it was missing.

"You taught me many skills, like the Chidori. That meant a lot to a little kid."

Kakashi glanced down and then back up at his once-brief student. He was truly touched although he laughed in a dismissal manner. He had taught Sasuke anonymously a few times a week for a month while he was on an ANBU mission in Cloud. Whenever he wasn't needed with his group or they were not acting upon the mission, he would sneak away to the little boy by the creek.

After his unit had just arrived at the Hidden Cloud village for an S-class assassination, Kakashi had gone to find water in the woods they were staying in. He had come across a creek with a young boy mumbling to himself and staring in awe at his own reflection in the water.

"So, you think you are that good-looking, eh?" Kakashi asked in amusement as he came up next to the boy with his water pail.

The boy jumped a foot in surprise. He just stared at the man with the dog mask.

"Well," Kakashi continued, "I saw you staring at yourself."

"It's 'cause my eyes changed colors. They look really cool!" the boy beamed shyly.

Kakashi looked closer at the boy and did a double-take. The red eyes with the black commas were eyes he recognized quite well--since he had one himself in his left eye. He knew where he had gotten his one Sharingan eye, but this boy had two, and they had developed on their own. Was he an Uchiha? And if so, what was he doing in Cloud?

"The old man wouldn't teach me more fire jutsu, so I came out here to blast some trees. My eyes started itching, so I went to the creek to wash them, and look! They're _red! _Not boring black anymore!" the boy continued with animated hand motions, growing less shy around the stranger.

Kakashi chuckled behind his mask. "So they are. What is your name, kid?"

"Sasuke!"

The little boy, Sasuke, jerked his head around at the sound of his name being called in a scraggly voice of an old man. He bid a quick good-bye to the stranger in the dog mask and ran off towards the voice. Kakashi stared after him for a moment before quickly filling up his water pail and returning to his camp.

The next day, the boy had been trying to walk on water (and failing miserably) when Kakashi had come upon him with his water pail again. Sasuke had not noticed his presence, and Kakashi intended to fill up his pail and leave, but he simply couldn't stand not pointing out what Sasuke was doing wrong.

"Sasuke, was it?" he called out, setting his water pail down. "You're focusing your chakra on your entire legs. Just focus it on your feet!"

After a few hours of trying, Sasuke had finally stood on the water without falling into it. Kakashi knew he had to get back to camp before the others started to think he had been ambushed.

"Inu-sensei! Will you come back to help me again?" Sasuke pleaded as he balanced on his tiptoes on one foot on the water.

Kakashi chuckled at the boy's anticipation. "Yes, sometime, I will."

He had not returned until five days later, but Sasuke was waiting at the creek when he got there, eager to learn more.

Naruto's mumbling in his sleep brought Kakashi back to the present.

"Oooh, Hinata…! Your parents might come in!"

Neji reached around the fire and slapped Naruto in the face with his stick before returning it to its original purpose of stoking the fire. "Oops."

Naruto came awake grumbling and rubbing his face, only being able to guess why Shikamaru was snickering at him.

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"I am so worried!" Ino screeched while tugging at her hair. "Forehead girl gets herself into the biggest messes!"

Hinata gently pulled the blonde's hands away from her poor hair. "Ino-san, I am sure she is fending for herself well until the unit gets to her."

"That's right. With our boys out there, she'll definitely be saved!" Tenten added fiercely. She palmed a fist. "Just wish I could be out there, too."

The three women were gathered in Ino's house with their tea cups in front of them; however, none of the three cups had been touched since being placed on the table.

"Shikamaru's a genius strategist," Ino remarked.

"Neji's Byakugan will let them know if danger lurks," Tenten added.

"Naruto-kun's 'tails' are very powerful," Hinata put in quietly.

"Kakashi is a good leader and has that eye thing," Ino continued.

"Lee is the best taijutsu user I know besides Gai-sensei," Tenten pointed out.

"And there's Sasuke-san," Hinata said.

The three women just looked at each other, not knowing what strong points he might have.

"He has a big sword?" Ino suggested with a shrug and a grin. The other two girls giggled quietly.

"He's got a powerful reputation, apparently," Tenten remembered.

"I think he really cares about Sakura-san…" Hinata said, staring out the window.

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"He will only be expecting Sasuke, so we should send Sasuke in first," Neji said, poking at the fire.

"I feel that I should tell you guys it probably won't be 'he,'" Sasuke said haltingly. He glanced at the other five before elaborating. "Kabuto will be there unless he died, which I doubt. Such luck doesn't exist in this world."

"Who is this Kabuto and is he strong?" Kakashi asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "How bothersome. This might ruin my plans."

"I apologize," Sasuke said, not truly sorry. "Forgot about him. He's Orochimaru's bitchboy, and yes, he is strong."

"How strong?" Kakashi prompted.

Sasuke shrugged. "I nearly killed him once, but it took everything I had at the time. You three are too weak," he finished, motioning to the opposite side of the fire where Neji, Shikamaru, and Lee were sitting. They glanced at each other before narrowing their eyes at the assassin.

"What the hell?" Lee growled, sitting up straighter.

Naruto bit his lip to keep from smiling that he was not included in Sasuke's weakling list. He had never fought in front of Sasuke before, so he could only conclude that Sasuke did not include him because he thought of the fox-demon man as a friend. Did he?

Kakashi sighed in annoyance. "We don't have time for this, or have you forgotten about Sakura?" He stared pointedly at Sasuke who actually did look guilty.

"Excuse me," Sasuke mumbled, inclining his head in apology.

"Anyway," Shikamaru began, looking a bit miffed by Sasuke's comment, but trying to shrug it off. "Things are different now. If we send Sasuke in first, this Kabuto will surely step up to fight him. Although I hate to admit this now," he paused, giving Sasuke a look that clearly said he wasn't on his good side now, "we'll need Sasuke in the group to fight Orochimaru."

Shikamaru quickly made some notes on his map plan. "While Kabuto's group is fighting him and distracting him by driving him farther and farther away from the cave entrance, Orochimaru's group will enter and take Orochimaru. The sixth unit member will locate Sakura.

"Here are the divisions. Lee and I are Kabuto's group. The objective is to trap Kabuto in "Me and My Shadow" while Lee, er, beats the hell out of him. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke are Orochimaru's group. The objective is to do whatever it takes to overcome him. I'm sure you three can pool your… special abilities." Shikamaru paused, nodding at Naruto who returned the nod in understanding. "Neji will retrieve Sakura since he can use Byakugan to watch for any oncoming attacks to his person."

Shikamaru set down his map plan and glanced around. "Any objections?" He waited, certain that Neji would object, but the Hyuuga surprisingly kept his mouth shut, obviously seeing that he would be best suited to rescue Sakura.

Sasuke gazed at Shikamaru, realizing why he had the owl ANBU mask. It suited his intelligence.

"But Kabuto won't go for you and me if he sees us. He'll alert Orochimaru since we aren't Sasuke," Lee pointed out reasonably.

Shikamaru nodded with a grimace. "Yes, I've thought of that." He grimaced again and looked at Lee. "Take off your clothes."

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A/N: Only about a tenth of you guys who have this on Story Alert review it. (sobs in despair) Wahhh!


	12. Chapter 12

Widowmaker

Chapter Twelve

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A/N: In the last chapter, when I was "sobbing in despair" over the fact that only a tenth of people who have this on Story Alert actually review, I was only 18.6 serious. XD I appreciate every single review I get, really. I'm so embarrassed to have sounded like a whiny baby!

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"Please, Orochimaru-sama!" Kabuto shrieked in a broken voice as his head tottered around on his shoulders.

Sakura gripped harder, her fingernails biting into the pale skin on his neck. She wrung his neck, screaming every curse she could think of. Kabuto's eyes rolled around in his head as the dizziness he was experiencing threatened to knock him unconscious.

"Let me defend myself!"

Orochimaru listened to his henchman's complaints in bored impatience. "Oh, very well. It's not amusing anymore anyway." He waved Kabuto off with a flick of his wrist.

Not three seconds after Orochimaru's consent did Sakura find herself flat on her stomach, her arm twisted painfully behind her by Kabuto's rough grip. "You bastard!" she cried, trying to free her arm, but to no avail.

"How would you like to see what it feels like to have your neck wrung like a chicken?" he taunted.

Sakura's head jerked around to stare over her shoulder at his smiling face. She gulped.

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"This is some bullshit."

"Oh, come on, Lee; it's for the mission!" Naruto snapped. Next to him, Shikamaru yawned and rolled his eyes at Lee's temper tantrum.

Lee gritted his teeth. "Fine. I'm a team player."

"So gallant of you," Sasuke growled, staring down at himself. "But I'm not, and this is some _bullshit!"_

Kakashi and Neji stood off to the side, observing the scene with interest.

Sasuke was picking at the arm guards of his ANBU uniform with extreme distaste. The beaver mask was some distance away where he had spit on it and thrown it aside. Five minutes was wasted breaking Lee and Sasuke apart before they killed each other after that silent show of disgust from the Uchiha.

Lee was picking at Sasuke's black scarf which was wrapped around his head to cover his lower face. He was resisting the urge to touch his hair which was covered in sticky tree sap to spike his hair back like Sasuke's. The only non-black item of Sasuke's on his body was the assassin's sword on his back which had a red and silver sheath; that made it the only item of Sasuke's that Lee somewhat approved of.

"It's obvious I'm not Uchiha!" Lee ranted, fairly spitting out Sasuke's surname.

"Of course, it is," Sasuke added in a condescending tone.

Kakashi was quick to step in before another fight broke out.

Shikamaru sighed in a tired manner. "Look. It's obvious because we're right in front of you, halfwits!" He smoothed back his hair and took a breath before focusing on Lee. "When you first enter the cave alone, you will look like Sasuke from a distance, enough to draw Kabuto out."

"And by the time Kabuto reaches you and realizes you're not Sasuke, Shikamaru will have come in. Kabuto will have no choice but to defend himself from you and Shikamaru," Neji finished, giving Lee a "duh" look.

"Are you two going to be crybabies or help us rescue Sakura-chan?" Naruto challenged.

Sasuke and Lee stared at each for a moment before looking in opposite directions with a "hmph."

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Kabuto stared up at Sakura in a satisfied manner. Her hands were roped together—the rope was already cutting off her circulation as was evident from her purple fingertips--and the rope was looped over the top of a tall rock.

Blood dribbled from the corner of Sakura's mouth to drop fifteen feet before splattering on the dirt floor. Her head hung limply to one side, poorly supported by her right shoulder. One eye was swollen; it would probably be swollen shut, but it was hard to tell since both of her eyes were closed in blissful unconsciousness at the moment.

"Bitch," Kabuto spat before turning away to go sit on another rock. He glanced at Orochimaru briefly. "When is he coming anyway?"

Orochimaru's fangs showed in a display of a 'smile.' "Soon."

Kabuto sighed inwardly. Why was Orochimaru-sama even bothering with Sasuke still? There were other, more powerful ninja who would make better bodies for him. Itachi Uchiha was even better than Sasuke. But, for some reason, Kabuto got the impression that Orochimaru was scared of Itachi.

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Lee grumbled to himself. He didn't like to admit it, but Sasuke's sword was considerably heavier than a standard ANBU sword, and it wasn't doing great things for his balance in tree-hopping. Because of his lack of balance, his jumping speed was only half what it normally was.

"Hey, grandma, you're laggin'!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder as he jumped with the rest of the unit some ways up ahead.

"Is my sword too much for you?" Sasuke added in a carefully concerned voice. However, looking into the assassin's laughing eyes (he still refused to wear the ANBU mask), it was obvious that he was far from concerned.

"Enjoying this, killer?" Lee snapped back, speeding up a little.

"Of course I am! It's a stroke to my ego to know that I'm the only one who looks good with that hairstyle!" Sasuke yelled with a mean laugh.

"Yeah?" Lee replied angrily, hopping to the next branch. "Well, you can take your ego and shove it up your— Ahhhh!" Lee felt the branch slip from underneath him as he fell twenty feet to the ground.

"Oh, shit," Shikamaru muttered. Naruto broke into gut-wrenching laughter, elbowing the smirking Sasuke in the side and pointing down to the ground where a black blob of Lee could be seen sprawled out on the ground. Neji just shook his head.

Kakashi hopped down a few branches before jumping to the ground. He squatted down next to the current Sasuke look-a-like and poked him in the back. "Alive?"

A groan was his reply.

"I really hate that guy," Lee moaned, pushing off the ground and spitting grass out of his mouth. He also spit out some blood and then stood up all the way.

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"We're men! We're men in tightssssss! W-We roam around… the forest looooooking for fights! We maaaaay look like sisssssssiessssss! Bu… but watch what you say… or… um…" Ino trailed off in her song, forgetting the words.

The people around her were all staring, but she either did not notice or did not care.

"Ooooh, Shino's got a lovely b-bunch of coconuts! There-there they are… all s-standing in a row!"

Ino broke off as she fell forward a bit onto the counter.

"I think you've had enough, Ino," Chouji said hesitantly. He gently tried to pry the bottle of alcohol from his teammate's hand.

"D-Don't give me your shit, fat… thing. Whaaaat… h-happened to you anyway? Did your mom fuck a… a rhino… while eating doritos?" Ino slurred, stabbing a finger into Chouji's stomach repeatedly.

"What!" he bellowed, making a grab for her.

Kiba yanked her off the bar stool in time. "H'oooookay. I think Ino's had enough to drink."

"Where's…" Ino paused, looking thoughtful. "Where's Ten… Tenenen… Neneten…" Ino started to sob, realizing she didn't remember her friend's name.

"I don't think she's taking Sakura's disappearance very well," Tenten remarked. She sighed, taking Ino by the arm. "I'll take her home." Ino perked up at that.

"Heeeeheeee… home. That rhymes with… cone. Oh, my Goddddd! Ice cream cone!" Ino broke into a fit of giggles.

Tenten sighed again. She wondered if it was safe to leave Ino unattended for the rest of the night.

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"Riiiight. Like I'm going to authorize _that _request," Tsunade mumbled, ripping up a paper on top of the pile in front of her.

The Hokage tossed down her pen and swiveled around her chair. "Shizune."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," came the instant response from the Hokage's right.

"Give me the latest report on mission 21-487."

"Unfortunately, Hokage-sama, I have nothing new to report since yesterday. The target has yet to be retrieved. I will, of course, update this report by day's end," the woman summarized quietly.

"Very well. Thank you."

As Shizune bowed respectfully, Tsunade swiveled back around to face the front of her desk. _So, they haven't gotten to Sakura yet._

Tsunade stared at the papers in front of her unseeingly. She was confident with who she sent to rescue her pupil, but she wondered if they could also handle the inevitable battle against her old teammate. Could they defeat Orochimaru?

Tsunade did not know much about the assassin's skills, but she knew his family—or lack thereof—very well. If Sasuke was anything like his elder brother, then his skills were to be commended.

Twelve years before, the entire Uchiha clan had been found massacred. Only two bodies were unaccounted for: Itachi and Sasuke, two brothers. After the evidence had been put together, it had been determined that Itachi Uchiha had committed the mass murder, then fled. This event had been very hush-hush.

However, it had been a question for the ages about what had happened to little Sasuke. Had he been an accomplice to the crime? Had he been killed as well, just with his body disposed of elsewhere or destroyed entirely? Had he gone into hiding from his devious brother?

Then, about seven years after the massacre, news of a highly-skilled ninja who had been taken as an apprentice by a Konoha traitor of great caliber had floated past the ears of the elders in the Hidden Leaf village. Orochimaru, ever plotting, had found the person he deemed worthy to be his next body.

To make matters even more interesting, it had turned out that the new apprentice was none other than little missing Sasuke. Konoha had observed him quietly and carefully for a year. Sasuke was even pinpointed for assassination due to him being a traitor to his village.

Not too long after though, Sasuke left Orochimaru to become a hired assassin on his own. The Konoha elders had observed him even more closely and found out he had absolutely no idea who he was beyond "Sasuke Uchiha." His young childhood was a blank slate. For whatever reason, he had lost his memory at the time of his clan's massacre and had run away or been kidnapped by his brother. Due to lack of further evidence, Sasuke had been removed from the Bingo book and just left on observation.

Tsunade tapped her pen on her nose in deep thought. Was he strong enough to take on Orochimaru? Surely not by himself, but hopefully the six of them would be enough.

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A/N: I've been trying to figure out how to incorporate Sai into this fic (he came into the manga after I started writing this story), and I've finally figured it out:D So, Sai will be making a (relatively) important appearance in later chapters. For those of you who don't know who Sai is yet, um… just ignore this message. XD Next chapter soon!


	13. Chapter 13

Widowmaker

Chapter Thirteen

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A/N: Let me start off by saying that this story will end next chapter (most likely). It's been over a year since I've updated this, so if you were following it way back when, it would probably be a good idea to read it over again from the beginning; that's what I've had to do. I stopped writing on this because of one reason. If you'll remember from previous chapters, I stated that I had an idea I wanted to write within this story that would extend it to over twenty chapters. Basically, my idea is what is now the time-jump arc of the manga, or Shippuuden of the anime. THE NEXT SENTENCES ARE SPOILERS! My idea was to have Sasuke come back after a few years, but not necessarily to the village. He would have three companions (one even looked, in my mind's eye, like what Suigetsu looks like), and they would help him in his quest to kill Itachi whilst Sakura and Naruto try to get him back. SPOILERS END HERE. No, I was not copying Kishimoto as I had this idea before it actually became canon manga. So yeah, it bummed me out, and I didn't want to write my version of it because that would just be copying what the canon manga is. So, there you have it. I have not written anything in over a year, so hopefully the ending of this won't suck, haha.

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Orochimaru watched disinterestedly as Kabuto leaned out over Sakura's body—still hanging off of the rock—making measurements on random body parts. The snake master did not _even_ want to ask what his apprentice was measuring her for. He tapped his fingers for a few more minutes before clearing his throat.

"Kabuto. We have guests just about to arrive, and you are—what? Fitting the girl for a new dress?" At Kabuto's embarrassed stare, Orochimaru snapped his fingers. "Get down here."

Kabuto disappeared and reappeared at his master's side. "I was—"

"Don't care," Orochimaru interrupted, holding a hand up. He sniffed the air and sighed in pleasure. "I can practically smell our dear Sasuke."

Kabuto faced the other direction and sneered. _Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. Always Sasuke. Just because of his stupid eyes!_

"Unnnh… Sasuke… Naruto… Kakashi-sensei… "

Both men jerked their heads up at the moan. Sakura was rousing. She lifted her bruised and battered head, wiping her bloody lip on her elbow pad. She attempted to open both eyes, but one was swollen shut, so she peered around with her left eye. After realizing she was fifteen feet off the ground, she moaned. "Damn… it…"

"I'll go knock her out again," Kabuto offered, making a move towards her.

"No, no. We wouldn't want her to miss the fun in a few minutes." Orochimaru smiled at her. "Wakey-wakey, little girl."

Sakura spat out some blood. She found herself annoyed that she was too far away from her captors for the blood to even come close to hitting either of them. _It hurts… _As if rejecting what was happening to her, Sakura's stomach emptied its contents onto the ground beneath her, creating a slight splatter noise.

"That was just… ew," Kabuto said, sniffing at the air in distaste. He recoiled even more when Sakura coughed up some blood.

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"Okay," Shikamaru started, spreading his hands out in front of him. A cave entrance loomed about thirty feet away, dark and dripping water in one area. "Lee, you will go in first. They will, no doubt, know you are there by your chakra. I will be right behind you to trap Kabuto in Me and My Shadow. Then, you'll attack. Now, Neji—"

"WE KNOW," the others all stated at once. They had already been over the plan several times. Neji already knew to find Sakura immediately while Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto went after Orochimaru. Shikamaru had not discussed a separate plan with Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto; he, instead, left it up to them how they would handle Orochimaru.

Shikamaru frowned. "All right then. Lee, fix your—" he thrust a hand in Lee's direction "—duck-butt hair."

Sasuke's head perked up and he turned in Shikamaru's direction, guessing that he must have heard wrong. Shikamaru was checking his kunai pouch, so Sasuke assumed that he had.

Lee hopped up and down a few times, stretching his arms and neck before suddenly disappearing into the cave. The other five men were as silent as a cold, winter night as they listened for action inside the cave. As soon as they felt a chakra other than Lee's, Shikamaru disappeared into the cave, as well.

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"My, my, Sasuke, how good it is to see you," Kabuto crooned as he stepped around a corner and towards the entrance to the cave. Lee stood there, fists gripped tightly. He dared not say a word for his voice would surely give him away.

"What's wrong? Nothing to say to an old friend? You used to love our games of hide and seek. You were always so good at hiding when your life was at stake," Kabuto trailed off fondly.

The hairs on the back of Lee's neck stood up. What kind of hide and seek was that? It was no wonder Sasuke turned out so fucked up.

"You do look different though, Sasuke."

_Oh, shit. Get in here, Shikamaru!_

On cue, Shikamaru popped into the cave and immediately began to cast his shadow technique. Unfortunately, because Kabuto was already on guard from his suspicion, he was able to jump out of the way a millisecond before he was trapped.

"Shit!" Shikamaru cursed. "CHANGE OF PLANS!"

Before he was even finished speaking, Kabuto and Lee were engaged in combat. Lee landed a kick to Kabuto's head only to be forced into an onslaught of blocking to keep from being punched in the face. Shikamaru thought to try to trap Kabuto's shadow again, but the two fighters were simply moving too fast.

Neji, Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke flew past the quartet at the entrance. Kabuto struck out randomly, catching Neji on the shoulder. The Hyuuga was forced to turn around to defend himself.

_Fuck! _Shikamaru screamed inwardly, cursing how the plan had gone to ruins so quickly. He left Lee and Neji to deal with Kabuto and darted after Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke.

Shikamaru intended to make a run for Sakura as soon as they rounded a corner and saw her, but Sasuke immediately ran in her direction. "No! Sasuke--! Argh, damnit!"

"Haha," Naruto laughed jovially, "we're wingin' it!" He fired up a Rasengan and carefully aimed upward.

"What the—" Sakura stuttered, eyes widening. She squeezed her eyes shut as Naruto fired up at her. The ball sliced through the chains that bound her wrist like a warm knife through butter, and she felt herself falling.

A near silent grunt was the only sound Sasuke made to indicate catching Sakura from probably thirty feet up was a bit uncomfortable. He set her down immediately without a word and whirled around, eyes searching the cave wildly. Unable to stand just yet, Sakura fell to her knees and started to shake her numb arms. She looked up at Sasuke, wondering if the amazing red hearts surrounding him were real or an illusion due to lack of sustenance. _Sasuke…!_

Upon hearing clapping, the rescue unit and Sakura jerked their heads around. Orochimaru slowly stepped into what little light existed in the cave. He lowered his hands to his sides and just smiled—if such an expression could be called a smile.

"Oh, what a wonderful display of a save. A blast and a catch without a moment's thought! What a nice team you all make." The last part was said with a sneer. He turned his attention onto Sasuke now instead of the group as a whole.

"Sasuke, what _are _you wearing? I didn't realize you held any alliance to anyone but your own selfish heart."

Sasuke cringed, remembering his ANBU attire. "Yes, well, your clothing… requirements… have apparently hindered my dressing abilities. For life."

Orochimaru feigned a pout. "Personally, I rather liked your outfit when you were here. You never did like having a bare back though, did you? Always so self-conscious about your scar…" As he trailed off, he licked one of his disgustingly long fingernails. This seemed to trigger a rage in Sasuke, and it left Sakura wondering if the scar was from being scratched.

The snake-like man's appearance turned grim. "Your body will be mine, Sasuke."

Sasuke did not have to look at Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura to guess their expressions. He rubbed his face. "For the love of… Would you shut the hell up!" he yelled at Orochimaru. He motioned wildly at his companions. "You're going to make them throw up, you damn pedo!"

"Oh, Sasuke, I never knew he—" Sakura stopped abruptly, covering her mouth in depression. She made a small choked sound, which almost sounded like a sob.

Sasuke face-faulted. "Sakura, no—he—" He sighed. _As if saying he didn't would be believable at this point._

Naruto, on the other hand, was laughing hysterically. Kakashi had to hit him over the head to get him to stop. "That's screwed up!" the blond laughed.

A yell, which sounded frighteningly like Lee's, resounded from the cave entrance. Everyone's attention was quickly turned back to the situation at hand. Sasuke glared hatefully at Orochimaru. "This ends now."

Orochimaru smiled again. "With pleasure. I shall try not to tear you to pieces since I need your body."

Within a few seconds, there were about twenty Narutos in the room, all charging at Orochimaru. Kakashi sighed inwardly at Naruto's lack of restraint and tensed himself, ready to jump in at any time. He chanced a sideways glance at Sasuke to see the dark man with his sword unsheathed and gripped tightly at his side. This was it then.


End file.
